I was this many years old when I realized the saying is “you’ve got another think coming,” not “you’ve got another thing coming.” Did you know this? Did everyone but me know this? I felt like I’d been walking around in an inside out shirt for decades. It’s like singing the lyrics to your favorite… Continue reading Busting the Myth of Summer

What’s Behind Mom Guilt? Mom Guilt. Ugh. It comes with the territory of being a mom. But why? Why is it so ingrained in us, as parents and as moms, to care with every ounce of our soul, until our physical battery is at 0% – and yet we still feel guilty?  How many moms… Continue reading What’s Behind Mom-Guilt?

There is a technique in trauma therapy that calls upon the five senses when hurt or the memory of past hurt becomes too overwhelming. It’s so simple it feels almost impossible to be a thing that works. But in my own experience, it’s often the simplest methods that do the trick. Like setting out running… Continue reading Using the Five Senses to Calm

Summer is wonderful if you’re a kid! Freedom to sleep in, let your backpack gather dust under a heap of dirty clothes also gathering dust, eat leftover pizza at ten a.m., eat ice cream at midnight. It’s bliss. It’s also a lot of long hours to fill if you are a wheelchair-user and school was… Continue reading 20 Summer Activities for Wheelchair Users

As a mother of a teen girl myself, I know how difficult it is for teen girls to just be in today’s present world. The CDC released an article stating that “US teen girls are Experiencing Increased Sadness and Violence”. Both males and females are suffering, but the data shows that girls actually “fared worse… Continue reading Parenting Teen Girls: Social Media, Body Image and Emotional Health

How You View Your Past Is a Window into Your Present I broke up with the man I thought I was going to marry on New Year’s day. What a way to go into a new year, right? The breakup had not been part of the plan. In fact, we had gone to a concert,… Continue reading The Power of Perspective

Outer Space Taught Me How to Zoom Out On an incredibly frigid weekend in March, my spouse and I decided that the only thing to soothe our winter-weary hearts was to pack up the van and head out on an adventure. At this point in their lives at ages nine and eleven, my kids know… Continue reading Rediscovering the Mystery and Magic of our Children

There is a reason Etsy exists. And Pinterest boards. And the entire home section of Anthropologie. We like to fancify our lives. We like the idea of tablescapes and monogrammed sweatshirts and the perfect mod lamp. It sounds silly, but it serves a purpose. Underneath all the fluff is this idea that we crave specialness.… Continue reading I Don’t Need a T-Shirt to Tell Me My Son is Growing Up

I Lost Someone in a School Shooting and Now I’m Fighting for Better Protection for My Son In March of this year, I lost someone dear to me in a school shooting in Nashville. My friend, Katherine Koonce, was the head of the Covenant School. She was kind, with a dry sense of humor that… Continue reading School Shootings and Children with Special Healthcare Needs

I read an article recently on the Swedish concept of kärt besvär. Kart means “dear or cherished” and besvar means “pain,” so loosely translated it describes cherishing the painful moments in life. The article listed several examples including the specific pain of paying a bill while also being grateful that you have the money to… Continue reading You Don’t Have to Cherish Every Moment