Here’s the one security question I still can’t choose: “What was the name of your first pet?” I was 13 that October, right around the time when the weather turns in Tennessee so that I needed a jacket before I left for school that morning. I ran back in to grab the old Patagonia off the hook when I heard the summons from my mother to check Amber’s food bowl before I left. Amber, our …

When we first heard about Zika last summer it sounded too scary to be real, especially for expectant mothers. But is also sounded too far away to reach us. Brazil is not my backyard. But it did reach the U.S. and despite the fact that a year has come and gone, it’s still something I’m choosing to care about and take precautions against. Click on the picture to read my article in Mom.me on how …

Meeting work deadlines doesn’t make me a bad mom. And a messy house doesn’t mean I’ve spent more time loving my kids. You can be productive AND parent well. It’s a balance as is everything in life. Click on the picture to read why I’m done feeling guilty for getting things done in my new article in Her View From Home.   *This one’s for Meg who knows a thing or two about celebrating when …

PROVERBS 15:1 A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. PROVERBS 16:32 32 Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. I’ve gotten better and worse at my patience level over the years. When I was in high school, I was always ready for the next thing—the next academic challenge, the next theater production, the next tennis match. When the “next” thing came, I …

Alternative title: Pre-teen drama from a five-year old. After we maneuvered the highways and byways and concrete jungle of the hospital for Charlie’s speech evaluation, I had a dream. And I don’t mean the figurative, Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream.” I mean the literal, went to sleep that night and entered some form of R.E.M. state that led me to a vision. It was a picture of the future. It wasn’t sci-fi …

Remember when thinking about the future meant Twilight Zone music and Astro from the Jetsons and Marty McFly on his hover-board? Remember when Orson Welles convinced the world aliens had invaded and Spielberg made people cry in A.I.? Remember when texting wasn’t a thing and the “smart” in smartphones meant “neat”? The future has always been a mix of fear and excitement. Self-driving cars have received a great deal of both: pure joy at the …

How to Use Your Philosophy on Life to Pick Swim Lessons I learned to swim at one year old because I was thrown into the pool by my well-meaning parents. There’s a VHS tape of it somewhere in the attic. You can see me bob to the surface after a second or two. I didn’t cry. I was probably too busy filing it away for my future therapy cache. Yet I never remember a fear …

When I read New York Magazine’s article on the storytelling technique that could flip your life around with a little wordplay, I tried it and fell in love with myself…just a little bit. As one who finds “self-care” a fluffy word that ought to be in quotes and accompanied with an eye roll, this was a bigger moment than it sounds. The article reviews a study that asked 600 people to journal, a practice I …

Today I’m reviewing my thoughts on a Mother’s Day that was harder than most. My mom, the woman who raised me, had to “celebrate” this holiday for the first time without her mother. This piece was written for her in honor of my grandmother. Click on the picture to read the article in Scary Mommy.   How did you spend Mother’s Day? Save Save Save

JOHN 4:7-13 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a …