As an at-home mother of little ones as well as a writer, composer and flute/voice teacher who volunteers as choir director and natural family planning teacher, I have to be really smart with my time in order to accomplish anything at all. Here’s my take on maximizing time and productivity, based on my experience as [...]
Have you ever thought about how much of our identity is defined by numbers? Social Security, driver’s license, phone, credit card, salary… Numbers can reveal a lot about a person, but those aren’t the ones that do it. Here are some of the numbers that define my life: 36: age. 5-4. Height. (Mumble mumble144mumble): my [...]
Lately it’s become clear to me how often men and women willfully misunderstand each other. A discussion about love, marriage and dividing household responsibilities devolved into an argument about whether socks on the floor constitute a deal-breaker. I was shocked at the speed with which rational thought turned into “men are from Mars, women are [...]
I’ve tried to write this a dozen times, and every time I do, I realize that the vast majority of you are going to tune out, perhaps even close the browser window, when you read the next two words: Down syndrome. Disability makes us uncomfortable. Whatever lip service we pay to valuing those with special [...]
The answer is, yes. We knew the time had arrived when every billboard between home and southern Illinois flashed the word “pregnancy” or “baby” at us, only to morph into Philosophy or Body Shop upon closer inspection. Baby number four has been on our radar for the last six months. We’ve turned the question over [...]
There are two things small children never run out of: drool and energy. My husband doesn’t believe that this is a coincidence. Baby drool, he says daily, has explosive properties. After all, look what comes out the other end. Consider: All you give them is food and out comes the drool (and other bodily matter), [...]
We took three days away, my husband and I, on a trip for two. Our first in five years of parenthood. We flew to Tampa and started our weekend with a big fight in the car. (That wasn’t what you were expecting, was it?) Once we got that out of our systems we settled into [...]