"Mom, I asked her to be my girlfriend. But don't worry - I talked to her dad already." "You asked her dad?" Peter and I exchanged silent glances, since "asking the dad" isn't something we had coached this young man to do. There are a few gifts born from my sons watching my own love […]
I read recently about an interview with author Nora Roberts, where someone asked her how to balance writing and kids. (Anything of this specific genre grabs my attention faster than a barista calling out the cup with my name on it.) She said the key to juggling is to know that some of the balls […]
I am forty-one years old. That happened this summer. I am solid in my emotional convictions about birthdays (love them) but also odd numbers (hate them), but forty-one seems to be here for a while longer, and we are becoming friends. Since I am the age that I am, I feel old enough to finally […]
Three things have happened, and they are sorting themselves into the same space of my mind, as if they belong there together. First, I sat outside during a summer evening rain shower. The tasks of the day were finished, we were in the after-dinner space of each doing our own thing, and I was sitting […]
Today, I said thank you to the Starbucks barista who made my Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, even though she is complicit in my addiction. I won't press charges as long as she keeps making that goodness that unabashedly defines autumn for my soul. Today, I said thank you to my dad, who gave me a […]
Maybe you've seen this story that's circulating on social media: "Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks or clay pots or grinding stones. But no. Mead said that the first sign […]
When my family goes away for a bit, things fall to pieces. When we got on the cruise ship in March, it was still safe to travel. When we got off the ship, the pandemic had hit, and we barely made it home. Everything had changed. Schools were closing, small businesses were sinking, and nobody […]
"So, Barbara Brown Taylor asks this question, and also Jen Hatmaker closes every podcast episode with it. Here's what I want to know: What is saving your life right now?" There's a pause while he thinks, which isn't surprising since I sprung this question on him while we are live on the air. That's how […]
This is the final week of distance learning, a household term that nobody knew three months ago. This week, we go to the school to pick up what was left behind in their lockers in the Great Middle School Rapture of March 2020. One of the parents commented on the school thread: I'm so sorry […]
Tricia: Okay. So, I want to talk about this. Right before the whole world shut down, we went on a cruise. Rob's family, my family, our parents - the whole crowd. We call ourselves the Great Eight, and we went on a cruise together. When we got on the ship it was safe to cruise, […]
Back when I was navigating the long days with little people, some researchers endeared themselves to me with a released study that indicated that stay-at-home parents have 30+ hours of leisure time each week. They implied there's no reason to complain about busyness or exhaustion, because really, most of it's leisure time. Back then, a […]
"You start this time," he said. I groaned audibly. "OF course you would say that." "I have to confess something to you right from the top... this is the day, maybe like every day, that I think I have nothing to offer to the world. I have nothing. This is it." He bubbles with laughter. […]
My brother and I have been working on a little something during quarantine, and we are excited to set this little bird free to fly today. I could tell you paragraphs about how much fun we hare having, how he makes me laugh in every single episode, how we are exploring endless topics together, things […]
"Tricia, how can I stop living in fear? I’m worried that something will happen to the person I love. How can I keep this fear from paralyzing me?” I posted this dialogue back in October, back when we were all roaming the aisles of grocery stores, like the people next to us were safe […]
"Mom, did you know they make ranch dressing seasoning?" one son says. "I feel like she bought that already," says the other son. "No, not the dressing mix. It's in a shaker. Like parmesan cheese," says one son. "I had a bad experience with ranch dressing," says the other son. "What was it?" "Uncle Rob […]
When I say it's easy and good, then you know it's absolutely going to be BOTH. Probably you have all of these very things in your own little quarantined kitchen, and you can become the Easter Bunny herself by whipping up this deliciousness for the people you love. Ingredients: Cake: 1 сuр buttеr (2 sticks) […]
I wanted to send this story to you on Easter morning or the night before, but things got away from me, what with the glazed ham and the hashbrown potatoes and the early service and hosting all the family and dyeing of inappropriate eggs. (I distinctly recall saying nobody was allowed to draw penises on […]
Every night, we have ice cream at 8:00. And some evenings, we have it at other times, because it's 8:00 somewhere. We are living it up in our locked up condition. Last night, before our evening constitution, Peter brought us all together at the dining room table. There were four cups of fruit punch and […]
So many new things are happening in these crazy times, you guys. Like the fact that I seem to have become a homeschooling mom who bakes pies and walks several miles a day. It's like that game on Facebook where you're supposed to post a status that makes people think you've been abducted. Like if […]
It's been more than a decade since this Good Friday situation, the day Baby Tyler locked Toddler Tucker and me in a second story bedroom for an hour and a half, and our rescue involved three strangers, three firemen, a fire truck, three police officers, several calls to 9-1-1, and a very brave neighbor. An […]
