Author: Courtney
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What I Learn From My Daughter’s Righteous Rage
My daughter flails on the floor, screaming and crying. Her sister took the toy she wanted to play with and I won’t let her watch a show. She’s been like this for an hour, a fiery fury bursting from within. And with every attempt to soothe or distract or speak logic to her, she responds…
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What Makes a Great Father
As we were wrapping up our trip to the lake this week, running back and forth to the house trying to pack, but also trying to pack in every last bit of fun, my foot landed on an unfortunate clover, and an even less fortunate bee, who let me know in no uncertain terms that…
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Top 5 Reasons to Go Camping With Kids
We arrived home Sunday afternoon and dragged ourselves across the threshold of our air-conditioned house. We were dirty and sweaty and exhausted. But we were also content and connected and a little more appreciative. Because we had just spent the last two days camping as a family. I’m not going to spin a fairy tale…
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These Wee Small Years
My feet ran through the thick grass, looking for a place to find cover. “Eighteen, nineteen, twenty. Ready or not, here I come!” I heard my oldest daughter call out. As I dove behind a short cypress around the side of the house, I was startled by a flash of red darting from the tree.…
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Like A Good Neighbor
Earlier this week, after a restless night up with a teething toddler, after waking at 5:00 am to feed the toddler, again, and get in a run before the rest of the house awoke, after making breakfast for everyone and cleaning up, after homeschooling my older two while trying to keep the youngest from climbing…
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What If Mothers Just Said No?
What if mothers just said no? What if we decided not to be the ones to carry the heavy burden of the mental load for our families and society at large? What if we set down these invisible responsibilities that weigh us down? Before the weight of it all crushes us. What if we…
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A Child of Stardust
Once, there was a child. Like all children, this one was made from the stuff of stardust. This child slid from the heavens above, leaving behind their dance among the constellations and descending along the great slide of color and light that would bring them into a new world. With a disorienting thud, the child…
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Love and Loss
This morning, as I was baking a cake and doling out spoonfuls of batter to eager little mouths and orchestrating a silly celebration for my younger daughter’s half-birthday, millions of other women were marking this day with much less joyous memories. October 15th is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day, and the entire month of…
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Taking Note from Nature
‘Tis the season for hustle and bustle, for stress and excess. Meanwhile, the natural world quiets, slows down, and turns inward. Meanwhile, bears and bugs hibernate, leaves fall from trees in a not-so-subtle suggestion to let go of that which no longer serves. Meanwhile, our busy bodies fight against their own natural urges. There are…
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My Darlings, I Delight in You
My Darlings, I hope you know, deep in your heart, how much I delight in you. I hope you see it. I hope you see past my tired eyes and my distracted mind. I hope you see the love and pride and joy that resides within those weary eyes. I hope you see how they…
The Small Wanders 