Tag: parenting
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Finding the Beauty Through the Weeds
I’ve written before about my affinity towards weeds – their persistence, their unconventional beauty, their unsung purpose. But there can also be a dark side to weeds, a literal choking out of light. Weeds, seemingly innocuous at first, can grow so thick and fast that it makes thriving, or even surviving, impossible for other important…
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The Great Unfurling of Growing Up
Eight years. Eight years since I crossed the holy threshold of birth to become a mother. Dreams brought to life with the great ache of joy; quivering, squeezing, stretching until I emerged as something wholly new, holding someone holy and new. And now, through the creeping crawl of the days and the great strides of…
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Five Favorites: Saint Andrews, Canada
I’ve always dreamed of traveling internationally with my kids. The thought of exploring new cultures and languages with them. Exposing them to perspectives outside of their home country. Expanding their horizons and broadening their knowledge. As it turned out, our first international venture with the kids was less idyllic and more just trying to convince…
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Five Favorites: Acadia & Bar Harbor, Maine
Sunlight crested over the jagged mountains, bathing the landscape in a beautiful auburn aura. I hadn’t slept a wink the night before, but the first glimpse of sunrise filled me with renewed energy. Miles continued to roll away beneath us as I heard the soft murmur of small voices perk up from the backseat. Glancing…
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Five Favorites: Valle Crucis, North Carolina
As a child, there was one place more than all the rest that I felt my true self. One place where my wild and free spirit could wander free, roaming through wildflower fields picking berries, stepping barefoot in cool mountain creeks, and climbing moss-covered mountainsides. One place that felt like coming home. That place was…
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10 Tips for Traveling Solo with Kids
My baby was tucked snuggly in the back seat of the car. She’d been changed, fed, and was now sucking contentedly on her pacifier. Glancing back in the review mirror, I made sure her small mirror was angled correctly, that her pacifier was tethered within reach for when she inevitably spit it out, and that…
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10 Truths of Traveling Solo With Kids
I reach up to close the trunk of the van, packed to the gills with everything we could want or need. A sense of excitement and anticipation, alongside a bit of nervousness, runs through my body as my legs run back and forth to the house to grab “just one more thing.” The kids are…
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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…
The Small Wanders 