Why I Don’t Read Old Testament Stories to My Kids
If there were Grammys for small town libraries, ours would clean house. It has life-size building blocks, dress-up sets, hand puppets and a reading nook with a real loft. Come to think of it, I have…
Parenting
Why I Don’t Celebrate My Kids Inviting Jesus into Their Hearts
It had been a big, colorful week for my younger half. They look forward to this week of VBS like a parent looks forward to bedtime. With three free hours of alone time five nights in a row, you had …
What Leaving the Mennonite Faith Taught Me About Parenting
If you were a kid in the '80's, you either had a Big Wheel or were jealous of the kids who did. Reclining behind the oversized front wheel, a kid could feel more powerful than any tricycle-sized per…
Top 10 School Supplies Every Middle Schooler Needs
She bounced into the living room and declared that she had found her "second school outfit." The white denim shorts had made the cut because big sister had worn them last year (works for me),…
People Always Assume Our Big Family Homeschools: 5 Q’s to Consider When Making the Schooling Choice
We sat down at our weathered farm table together. I fiddled with the salt shaker. He leaned back into one of the mismatched chairs with his hands behind his head. My husband and I were about to ha…
Silent Yelling and the Myth of Being Unprepared
"Mom, there were about twenty different ways you could have handled that." Although my preteen son got a scolding for saying so, he was much too right. I had just given my kids a Silent Yellin…
Six Little Things Teens Need for Successful Relationships
I don't write very much about raising teenagers, even though by this fall I will have five of them under my jurisdiction. Yeah, I know. Five is a lot. The reason for this writing hole? My lack of p…
Why Kidless Vacations are Good for the Kids
We sprawled out in our rented cabana, breathing salt and sun, telling each other how ridiculous this life (of three days) was. The drinks were served, the books were read, the ocean was heard, the ski…
Parents Versus Google
I slipped into the quiet room filled with rocking chairs and slung my thirty gallon diaper bag off of my shoulder. The bag will shrink with each child until it resembles a lone diaper tossed under t…
Book List 2018: Parenting and Otherwise
Who has time to read? This busy parent does. Yes, it is wedged between after school activities and homework. It is interrupted countless times. It is done next to looming piles of I-should-be-clean…