Toddlers

Our daughter is a full-fledged toddler – imitating the things her daddy and I do. In many ways she's like her mama. She likes things in order: closed doors, shut cupboards.  One of the things I hope she picks up...

If I'm honest, this season of toddlers feels too long, too raw, and too close to every single source of insecurity I have. It feels endless and personal. Every meltdown, angry response, or missed potty-training cue (so many missed potty training cues) makes me feel like a failure at the only job I have right now. 

I'd love to say we found some kind of magical formula that helps him snap out of this, but we haven't. Occasionally we'll find that blowing one strong burst of air into his mouth helps, but it doesn't always. His pediatrician assures us he's totally healthy and will eventually outgrow this terrifying but harmless habit. But in the meantime, I wonder how I will set the same firm limits for him on a day to day basis as I have for my other two children? How do you parent well when you're terrified of your child getting angry?

From the moment of conception (and actually, even before) children are losing their right to privacy. In fact, a recent study shared that by the time a child is five years old, their parents will have posted around 1,500 images of them on social media. Anonymity has been snatched away from them.

No, I am not a recovering drug addict and it isn’t my life that is in a million little pieces, but my living room floor. A MILLION LITTLE PIECES of toys… This weekend was a typical Colorado spring weekend.  The beautiful,...

These are the conversations I have with myself most mornings... 8:00 a.m. "This is going to be a great day! I've had my coffee and the kids are calm."  8:15 a.m. "The kids aren't as calm as I thought..."  10:00 a.m. "Is it too early for...

Learning to listen is not an easy task. I still find it challenging at times, and I can't just blame it on my enneagram type. I'm not talking about powering through Transformers tangent #84 for the day when it's wine o'clock and the kids should be in bed. What I'm talking about is really listening to the things they're saying to you. I'm talking about not asking the question until you're ready to receive the answer.

Wear Sunscreen. As a freshman in high school, wanting to be considered cool by my Senior brother and his friends, I listened repeatedly to a popular "song" they liked called, "Everybody's Free to Wear Sunscreen". More reading, than song really...

I don’t know about you, but right now I am in that stage where I feel like I will never really get a moment’s peace in my life. With a 9 year old, 2 year old and an 8...

A preschool teacher once told me that reading the same children's books over and over again was really important to help little ones grasp meaning and learn to read. She did follow that up with saying that if you've...