Two boys in these photos. One is wearing footie Batman PJ’s on a hot summer evening, and the other, his buddy Logan, is sporting more sensible shorts and t-shirt, along with a pair of crutches. They are playing soccer in our back yard. Together. For over an hour. Until it was too dark to see… Continue reading What Kids Teach Us About Ability: #WeAreAllSportsFans Part 2
I don’t always give Geoff enough credit when he has a GENIUS parenting idea, but this one set us up for 1300 miles of relative peace and quiet in the car headed west, which as parents of small children know is no easy task. I also barricaded the space between them so they couldn’t physically… Continue reading Daddy, I Think God Must Use a Go-Pro…
While hiking with my Girls of Summer last week, one 16 year old known for her tough interview questions asked me if I’d ever been in love BEFORE Geoff. Girls have a way of asking questions on those occasions when they trust you that you need to answer as honestly as possible. Other questions included:… Continue reading To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before…Well, Actually, to Your Parents…
Dear Neighbor, It has come to our attention that you complained to our Association about our yard. To our knowledge, we are living within the guidelines of the bylaws and keep a tidy place, most of the time; but July 4th weekend is a different story. We had a family style AFTERNOON barbecue, and there… Continue reading For Our Grumpy Neighbor Who Complained about Too Much “Going On” in Our Yard…
The above black and white picture of my dad in the sweet aviator shades of 1982, perhaps, is one of my favorite pictures of us for a variety of reasons. A giant blow up version leftover from his 60th birthday party hangs on my classroom door and students comment regularly on it– about how “badass”… Continue reading Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads, “Stand- in” Dads, Uncle- Dads, and Dads in Heaven
Between the college student who raped the young woman and hasn’t taken responsibility for his actions and the open season hate crimes on the LGBT crowd at Pulse, a gay dance club in Orlando, I am sad. This kind of senseless violence has left me feeling like I need to arm myself with more information… Continue reading The Violence Against Humanity is Killing Me
This blog about addiction and recovery has been brewing for months actually. But most recently, I have run into former students of mine in various spots around town who are in different steps in the process of recovery–whether it be from alcohol, prescription pain meds, or even heroin. These were great kids in high school,… Continue reading More Support Needed for Recovery in our Hometowns
There is no doubt that we are giving this parenting gig our best effort; however, in those moments when we realize just how badly a situation could have turned out, we shake our heads in disbelief at how we could have been so stupid. See the kids in this picture, smiling, wearing protective head gear,… Continue reading Parenting: Risk Taking and Mistake Making
This one right here. This one with spunky, waterlogged, blond pigtails, wet from swimming, giant blue eyes inherited from her flirty father, and her perfect white chiclet teeth. Yes her. She is headed to kindergarten this fall, following on the short heels of her brother. She is ready. I am ready. She asked the… Continue reading How Heading to Kindergarten is a Little Like Leaving for College…Only Different
I have this friend from college, Emily Cobb Henry, who writes these amazing notes for many mom friends in her life around Mother’s Day. This gift is unlike many others, requiring no money or space on a shelf collecting dust that would just mock me daily–just hours of precious time. She is a talented writer… Continue reading On the Day Before Mother’s Day…
Heather Ehrman Krill: The "Write" Kind of Coach 