Daylight Savings Time surprises me biannually with its awfulness. Pre-kid, DST is annoying. You have an extra cup of coffee or try to go to bed a little earlier. Post-kid? DST is the kind of thing for which Dante needs to invent another circle of H-E-double-hockey-sticks in his Inferno. If you, like me, are muttering … More Why Daylight Savings Time is Every Parent’s Nightmare
Back when I trained as a hospice chaplain, I was often surprised at how much our team–doctors, nurses, social workers, chaplains–laughed together. It wasn’t that we didn’t cry, too. We cried a lot. We cried plenty. Watching people die, supporting them at the end of life, ministering to their families and friends, it made each of us … More A Gospel Paradox * 10 Minute Devotion
Living with tiny humans is not unlike Star Trek… 1. When you suddenly realize it’s waaaaaay too quiet Oh no, oh no, oh no oh no oh no. Please, PLEASE tell me they didn’t discover my hidden lipstick stash. Welcome to the foreign planet that is now your living room. 2. When you try to … More 10 Ways Raising Kids is Basically Science Fiction
1. When you can’t EVER let your guard down around glasses or silverware Our baby has a reach of like eight feet if he sees something sharp, breakable, or shiny. Go-go-Gadget ARMS! 2. When your close friend who gave you a hard time for being a nap stickler has a baby of her own and texts you, “Oh … More 10 Reactions Parents of Young Kids Will Understand
I don’t remember so much Valentine’s Day pressure in my younger years. My mom would make us heart-shaped pancakes, we’d eat way too many of those tiny chalk-flavored candies at school, we’d exchange some cheap paper Valentine cards with our classmates, and that’d be it. Then social media happened. And suddenly it wasn’t enough to tell … More 10 Valentines to Give your Kids
So you’re going to have a baby? Congratulations! Here’s what it’s like. 1. When you first go into labor, you feel all… 2. Then labor really starts up, and you quickly change to What is haaaaaaaaappening to meeeeeeeeee…??? 3. Then the baby is born, the pain fades immediately, and you’re all Just leave me alone with this … More 10 Things That Happen When You Welcome a Newborn
There are some nasty illnesses going around and our fam fell prey to some last week. It was miserable. First the baby, who we had to take to the Emergency Department because he was, you know, not able to breathe (he’s fine now, but it aged his poor parents 10 years). Then the preschooler, who missed a day … More Since Laughter is the Best Medicine…
How can a person be so grown-up and yet so frustratingly not all at the same time? Raise your hand if you’ve said things like these and gotten similar reactions from your 2-5 year old… 🙋🙋🙋 1. “You have to put on a jacket.” 2. “No dessert unless you take one bite of everything.” 3. “Be nice to Aunt Mabel. … More 10 Gifs That Sum Up Parenting a Preschooler
Because good neighbors are gold. … More 7 Signs You Have the Best Neighbors
Denise Levertov wrote a poem called “The Ache of Marriage.” When I studied it in college I wanted to throw it in the garbage. Marriage achy? Pfffft. Another example of a poet writing silly nonsense. Then I got married. That Levertov? She knew some things. Daryl finished his PhD this September. In many ways, his dissertation became a third … More The Ache of Marriage
Courtney Ellis 