It’s Mother’s Day in the USA today, the time where a bunch of women feel special and extra-loved, and another group of women often don’t. Like so many other holidays, many who feel great about it sometimes forget that there are others who are aching. Church is extra sucky if they make all the mothers stand up and get a flower and you’re the one still sitting. In divorced families, the reality of what’s been lost creeps up. Others have lost their mothers or significant women in …
the mother’s day ache.
Mother’s Day is this Sunday. This year it also falls on my 50th birthday, which is kind of wild because I was also born on Mother’s Day. This upcoming Sunday is a happy day for a lot of women. Breakfast in bed, no chores, flowers, handmade cards. I never want to dismiss the awesomeness of mothers and that they get a day of extra-special love for all their hard work day in and day out. For me, with 5 kids, I always get some more-than-usual-sweetness and …
failed parenting.
Today is Day 2 of Failure Week. I don’t write a bunch about my kids here to honor them; it has always felt really important to me and to them, too, and I never had the luxury of blogging when they were super little and didn’t somehow know what I was saying yet. However, over time, there have been a few–MOMFB–Making Other Mommies Feel Better, Goodly Parenting, Never Say Never, The Kids are Alright, Faith Shifts: What About the Kids? (more if you look at the category “mommydom”). I …
the kids are alright.
If you’re friends with me on Facebook, your Newsfeed has been clogged with pictures of my daughter’s college graduation. Oh, what a beautiful weekend we had in New York City celebrating with family and friends. We are so proud of her! After four years in the Bronx, she is now moving on to dental school in the fall. We have now officially graduated two kids from college and have three more to go! Moments like these always cause me to look back and reflect, to consider …
underneath anger.
This month’s Synchroblog is centered on Anger. Here’s the description: “Anger sometimes has a bad reputation. Some of us have been taught that anger is a negative emotion, something that should be squeezed out, prayed through, avoided. Others of us have been raised in families and churches that never allowed for expression of anger so we have no concept of what “healthy anger” even means. What do we think God thinks of our anger? What do we think of it? What are you learning about it? …
faith shifts: what about the kids?
One of the most tricky parts about shifting faith is wondering what it means for our kids. I wrote a post several years ago called kids & faith: what are we creating and recently shared a little bit more specifically about the kids & faith shifts in this me-just-talking-to-Travis-Reed video conversation on The Work of the People: I thought today I’d also share a little excerpt from Faith Shift centered specifically on this because so many of us struggle on how to navigate these tricky waters as parents. …
“never say never”
june’s synchroblog is centered on “if i could tell myself one thing.” what advice we would give ourselves if we could go back 20 years? what do we know now that we wish we knew then? what is one thing that would have been helpful to consider? come back and check out the link list that i’ll post later tonight or tomorrow. when i first saw the topic, i thought of a few off the top of my head: “don’t take yourself so seriously”, “who gives a …
when mother’s day is hard
this upcoming sunday is a happy day for a lot of women i know. breakfast in bed, no chores, flowers, handmade cards. i never want to dismiss the awesomeness of mothers and that they get a day of extra-special love for all their hard work day in and day out. for me, with 5 kids, i always get some more-than-usual-sweetness and am so grateful for it; but both jose’s mom and my mom live close so we are caring for them too. this year to top …