Being an Aunt
Once a year my extended family gets together for a week-long vacation together. There are nearly thirty of us, and more than half are “the kids,” ranging in age between one and twenty-two. It is always fascinating to watch them…
Adoption: Is It an Option for You?
Adopting a child was not something I dreamed about my whole life, and it wasn’t something that my husband and I ever even talked about until seven years ago. We had heard a lot of adoption stories and were always…
Letting Go
This month my daughter Callie will start her freshman year at Mississippi College. In June we spent a couple of days at Orientation, where they wisely separated the incoming freshmen from their parents. The students got to attend sessions on…
Reflection Is Good for the Soul…and the Relationship
A friend of mine has worked with teenagers and parents of teenagers for more than two decades. During the particularly trying times of the teen years in a family, he encourages the parents to get one of their favorite pictures…
Birthday Party Memories
Can you remember all of your childhood birthday parties? Some of them? How about just a memory or two? Think about which memories stand out to you and consider why they made an impact on you. Many times it has…
Setting Sail
This month my firstborn child will graduate from high school, and, as all parents of seniors, I am wondering how we got here so quickly. In lieu of sadness, though, we are choosing to celebrate Callie’s graduation, so she and…
Photos and Perspectives
Sometimes I have a hard time deciding what to write for this monthly column. It’s not that I’m not still growing through motherhood; I think that motherhood just keeps me so busy and scattered that it’s often difficult to nail…
Doing What We Need to Do Isn’t Always Easy
I started writing for Parents & Kids Magazine in 2008, and I joined the office staff in 2011. I had been a stay-at-home mom for ten years before taking this part-time job. Since my youngest child was starting kindergarten at that time,…
Purging
Every once in a while, I get the urge to purge. I start feeling overwhelmed by all the clutter and excess of stuff in our home, and the longing to pare down overtakes me. Some things are easy to get…
Driving Down Memory Lane
Recently some friends and I got together near my old hometown. At the close of our reunion, I decided to make the old, familiar drive from my high school to the house that I lived in with my family from…
