• Family

    True Confessions

    We used the train-your-baby-to-be-on-a-schedule-and-sleep-through-the-night-so-that-you-can-sleep-too-and-everyone-is-much-happier-this-way method with each of our children. One night we heard baby Callie crying in her crib. I honestly don’t remember how long or short she cried, but we knew that she wasn’t hungry and didn’t need…

  • Adoption,  Family

    Battle

    There are some nights when I collapse into my bed in complete weariness. Most nights I am ready for sleep, tired from all the running around and dishes and laundry and logistics and cleaning up, etc., etc. But I’m talking…

  • Adoption,  Family

    Confession

    A few nights ago, I hit a very low point in my parenting. I was exhausted, worn down, and battle-weary. My buttons had all been pushed, and my triggers had all been triggered. I was tired of hearing lies, tired…

  • Family

    IDK

    I told my husband that what I really needed to put in place of my column this month is a big question mark. Because it seems that the older I get and the longer I parent, the more I feel…

  • Family

    Hard Conversations

    Hard conversations are part of life. And for those of us who really don’t like confrontation, these conversations can be extremely taxing. The easy way out would be just to avoid them altogether–to “keep the peace”–, but we all know…

  • Family

    Nose-to-Nose, Heart-to-Heart

    Recently I had to have a difficult “nose-to-nose” conversation with my daughter. She was having a lot of trouble admitting that she was wrong about something, and Kevin and I had been noticing that this issue with her had been…

  • Family,  Marriage

    On Handling Conflict

    My husband and I don’t have a lot of disagreements. And when we do disagree, we’re not loud about it. There was a particular time several years ago when we were having an argument in the kitchen, and our children…