Tag: Parenting
-
I Had the Time of My Life Fighting Dragons with You
Seated on the floor surrounded by moving bins, Taylor Swift’s music played in the background (randomly on my daughter’s Spotify) while I rummaged through my three kids’ middle school papers. My twins had just started sixth grade when we moved here and my youngest began fourth. Change is rarely easy…
-
The Reminiscing
Most people merely laugh and cry while pouring over 1000’s of photos when packing up to move. This deep thinker took it to another level, wondering if Socrates would have included the usefulness of photographs and videos in his idiom that the “unexamined life is not worth living”. Do reminiscing…
-
Moving: The Stuff
We grow up and make a home of our own. Some of us buy houses, condos or apartments. Whatever the structure, we collect some STUFF. And, I’m not a collector. So, how did I end up with so much? Photos capturing all we have done as a family make me…
-
Moving: The Highlight Reel
We finally moved last week. My experience confirms the myriad of lists claiming moving is one of the top five life stressors. I’m also grateful to God that it was only moving stress and nothing more serious. We made it out alive😉, relatively in-tact physically, and are giving ourselves the…
-
Sunset Through the City Window
My daughter took this lovely photo from her apartment living room. I thought it nicely captured the history/age of the building windows along with the sunset. The old, iron balcony railing looks like art to me. She was seriously blessed with a view of mature trees! I’m looking forward to…
-
Be Encouraged, Your Sacrifice Matters
“I’m not really this person, letting my wife make the real money while I sit here 15 hours a day, seven days a week.” A once-vibrant professional and just-turned 40 entrepreneur/Dad says this to me fifteen years ago. “In my head, I’m back in a suit, important at work and…
-
And So She Flew…Again
I laid in bed, silently grumbling that I was awake at 5:30am and didn’t need to be on that particular Friday morning. My eldest daughter was getting ready for work upstairs and I wondered if her Shark hair styler woke me. I pulled the blanket up to my chin, hoping…
-
Find the Humor?
“Look for the humor in the teen years.” The 75-year old former pastor said this as we walked toward the sanctuary for Sunday service. Find the humor? Does this man still not know me even a little? What could possibly be funny about what I was sharing with him? “It’s…
-
The First Mission Field Is the Nest
Whenever I visit a first-time Mom, my personal tradition is to bring a gift for her, not the infant. There are already piles of onesie’s, outfits through 4T, and impressive stacks of diapers strewn about the house. New Mama lights up holding the little something just for her. I keep…
-
When the Adult Kids Move Back Home, Must Mom and Dad Step it Back Up?
My husband and I were slow to adjust to the empty nest. When our third child moved out a year ago, we shuffled through the house aimlessly for a couple of months. Cooking dinner according to the kids’ various work and gym schedules was no longer necessary. Going out to…
-
Mid-Life Snoring?!
While raising my three children, the mere whisper of “Mama” at 2am bolted me straight up and out of REM sleep. If one of them rumbled a quiet cough, I was awake. My eyes shot open at the sound of someone streaming water from the fridge at 4am. Like most…
-
Lunching with my Grown Up Baby
While pushing a triplet stroller (twins and my third 22 months younger), random strangers regularly offered advice…at the park, at the mall… (when strolling at the mall was still a thing)… wherever I might be causing a scene with a three-seater. Of all the suggestions I politely listened to as…
Tales from a Mid-Lifer 