If she tells you she wishes her car got better gas mileage, that doesn't mean she wishes she'd never learned to drive. If she tells you she didn't like the middle of the book, that doesn't mean it wasn't worth reading. If she tells you she doesn't love her job, that doesn't mean she won't […]
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 […]
Parents of Preschoolers and Toddlers, this season is the real deal, isn't it? You are in the t-r-e-n-c-h-e-s. When my guys were preschoolers, I had to have them out the door by 9:00am, or the house would surely crumble around us. I was sure of it, and my theory was fairly proven. And now, this […]
"Mom, I wish you had some kind of record of the things I said when I was little." The incredulous look on my face may have been apparent to him, and I didn't mind. I wasn't hiding it. "Tyler, are you kidding me right now?" "Yeah, I just wish there was some way to know […]
Throwing it back to a post from 2008,when my babies were two and almost-one, I was sleepless and underfed, Robb and I were married and sweetly naive, and I was beginning my track record of forever disqualifying myself for Mother of the Year. At least some things stay consistent. * * * In the last […]
This conversation happened on a Sunday morning nearly a decade ago. This couple sat near us, and I met them during the 'meet-n-greet.' Back then, little conversations like this one were a highlight of my morning, back in the days before I became an introvert. They struck up a conversation. "So, do you have any […]
I found this little ditty hiding in the archives. Look at this very sweet story. * * * Robb was traveling. Let's start there. After dinner and playtime at Chick Fil A, showers (which are no longer baths and also new evidence God's goodness in my life), we settled in for the last part of […]
It's a blast from the past, you guys: one of the favorites from the archives of my life as a young(er) mom. Only this time, it's going live to the world - with a twist. Read to remember, or read to experience it all for the first time. * * * The headline is this: […]
A Throwback Thursday Dialogue with Tyler * * * "Mommy, how many humps do camels have?" He's sitting in my lap during the safety break at the top of the hour. We have two towels wrapped around him; he's a small and shivery five-year-old. I run through my mental list of camel facts. "I think they […]
"I hate you!" I hear one brother mutter to another in the backseat. I gasp dramatically and pull the car over. I put on my emergency flashers for our safety, but also because I've told the boys that if a police officer drives by and wonders what's happening, I will tell him the children in […]
Sometimes, I am silly and spontaneous in the morning. (I get this from my dad, who occasionally woke his school-age children with a loud serenade or one-act play with multiple characters.) The boys were reluctant to get out of bed on a school morning, so I turned myself into a one-girl show. As I laid […]
So, while this was happening, the paramedics said to Tuck, "Let's see... how many stitches do you think you'll need?" "Probably 150." "It's possible. I think it might be more like five." Another uniformed man said, "I'm thinking eight." They placed their bets, and then they said, "We will be at the firehouse on Tuesday […]
Tonight, a woman at WalMart stopped me. Twice. The first time, she said, "I just wanted you to know that I raised two sons of my own. Your family caught my eye when you walked by. I had to tell you." She was gracious, and we shared a few stories of the best things about […]
From the Archives of Teaching Tuck and Ty * * * We decided to do a family trip to King Soopers on Saturday night. (For my readers in the midwest, this is the Colorado version of Kroger. Think Giant Eagle... with mountains.) The boys were both happy and cooperative when we left the house, […]
* * * from the archives of Teaching Tuck and Ty * * * You know who excels in the art of multitasking? Starbucks employees. They operate like a well-oiled machine back there... everybody does their thing. And always more than one thing. I watched thed artful dance as I waited for my Grande-Raspberry-Mocha-No-Whip. […]
