Tales from a Mid-Lifer

  • The Ducks Will Follow

    Walking through my favorite local park, I stopped to watch a Mama duck cross my path with her four offspring. The waddling brood weren’t babies and they weren’t fully grown, so I immediately identified them as “teenage” ducks. Three of them followed the Mama in a perfectly straight line, stopping…

  • 31 Days to Happiness

    After several years of listening to Dr. David Jeremiah on the radio, I was excited to read his new book, 31 Days to Happiness, How to Find What Really Matters in Life. What will give us the peace that nothing else can? The answer of course, is a relationship with…

  • Prayer at the Pole and Courageous Teens

    Today is national See You at the Pole Day, where students, faculty, staff, and parents are welcome to meet and pray around their school flag pole.  Our family attended at 7am EST this morning and I’m confident that praying out loud in our small circle will be the most important…

  • Paying for Other’s Bad Behavior Is Making Me a Little Cranky

    Now in my mid 40’s, I’ve officially experienced enough of life where paying (in time or money) for other people’s bad behavior, no-show tendencies, and last-minute procrastination is making me cranky. Over my adult life, when I or my kids have received unfair treatment, I’ve definitely handled it firmly, but…

  • Does Violence Really Make Games More “FUN”?

    Does Violence Really Make Games More “FUN”?

    A significant number of my 19-28 year old male college students would give a resounding “yes!” to that question. I asked an informal research question in one of my classes, asking the guys if their Xbox violent games were more “fun” when they contain more violence, more killing and more…

  • The TV Show The Middle is Funny. Everything Else “Middle”… Not So Much.

    Sure we all like the show The Middle.    But I like little else involving “The Middle”. How about you? Middle Age is surprisingly everything everyone older than me said it was. There really are aches and pains when you wake up in the morning. You really do notice that…

  • 3 Teenagers with 97 Practices and 68 Games – In 60 days.

    My girls each play one fall sport and my son plays two. Since he has a lighter ice hockey schedule this year, he joined Varsity soccer as a second sport. The above title does not include Saturday morning recreational soccer games for my oldest two. And, lest you judge us…

  • Getting Ahead or Enjoying the Moment?

    Recently, my daughter had her very first job interview.  After we decided on her outfit and printed a copy of her resume, I wondered if they’d offer a 401K plan.  Although utterly absurd, the thought really did cross my mind.  While I should have been enjoying the moment, I zeroed…

  • Downside Up

    The essential theme of Downside Up by Tracey Mitchell is to deeply believe in our personal value despite varying forms of rejection.  Although we all experience rejection at some point, Mitchell determines for her readers to “not revisit the pain of rejection”.  Instead, she reminds us that “you are worthy…

  • Mom, were you EVER a kid?!

    Whenever I don’t laugh at something my 16-year old son thinks is funny, he asks me if I was EVER a kid.  Just last week he told a friend that he believes Grandma delivered me as a “grown up”. The truth is, somewhere along the parenting-teens years, I have admittedly…

  • There ARE Honest People Out There!

    My girls and I took a road trip to see the extraordinarily talented and kind  Taylor Swift in Philadelphia last weekend.  After a 2-hour rain delay, we were wowed by her excellent performance.  Since my son and husband often travel for hockey, we called this our “hockey weekend”. After a…

  • A Teenager’s Crisis of Faith

    Recently, my three children and I ran into a lovely Mom and her 16-year old daughter.  My twins and her daughter attended the same small Christian school together from Kindergarten through 3rd grade. We hadn’t seen each other in about 6 years, so we caught up on each other’s happenings and…