Love Means Showing Up
I played softball in elementary school; I wasn’t good at it. This was due to my terrible spatial awareness and also to my preference to just hang out in the dugout with my new friends. I liked being a part of a team, but I didn’t need to actually go on the field. I was
There should be different words in the English language for young teenagers (ages 13-15) and older teenagers (ages 16-19). Calling them all “teenagers” gives parents the false expectation that our experiences with them will be similar throughout all those years. I found the early teenage years pretty manageable, but I was totally unprepared for the
My grandmother passed away a few weeks ago. She was 95 years old and had lived a wonderful life. When I learned that she had passed, I was surprised that I felt equal parts relief and sorrow. The relief was that she wasn’t hurting anymore and that she had returned to the God whom she
My daughter hadn’t even spent the night yet at her dorm and I was texting my friends, “I should probably just go get her. She’s tried college and it went well. Now it’s time to get the family back together.” To be clear, my daughter wasn’t texting me with pleas to come get her. She
Last week, Lara Spencer, a host on Good Morning America, made a snide comment about Prince George taking ballet. Her tone was mocking and dismissive of boys who dance. Here’s what has surprised my son, the dancer: Not that someone made jokes about boys who dance. What surprised him was the pushback that Lara Spencer
I’ve been feeling tender lately. It’s almost as if my soul is a little bit bruised and I need to be protective of myself. One of the gifts of being in your forties is that you aren’t a mystery to yourself anymore. While this particular bout of tenderness stems from sending my oldest child off
Learning how to disagree and still be respectful is hard work. It takes patience and listening and mutual forbearance. Yelling is much easier. This past week, I feel like I’ve been around too much yelling. On Friday night, I attended a vigil in support of immigrant children. A solemn crowd gathered to light candles, listen
“I should have been a lawyer,” I said. I was sitting at the pool with two of my girlfriends who were kindly helping me figure out why I’m having so much trouble with my kids growing up and moving away. “That way,” I continued, “I wouldn’t feel so foolish for having put all of time
My son was practically crowing in the doctor’s office. Caleb is officially over six feet tall. I wasn’t celebrating with him. In fact, I wasn’t even believing the very clear data that I had just witnessed with my own eyes. When the nurse left, I said, “Maybe we should have her re-measure you. I just
“Has it hit you yet?” I’ve had several people ask me this in the past week. The short answer is “No.” Our oldest child recently graduated from high school and we’re just now emerging from the month-long marathon of her graduation. This spring has been one track meet and banquet and celebration after another. And