Category: Parenting

I'm a superhero mom

I'm a superhero mom

I’m a superhero mom. I don’t wear a cape or unitard, have a mask, or knee-high leather boots. Most days it’s jeans and sweaters, often with holes. It’s yoga pants stretched past their prime, stained t-shirts, and comfy shoes — always comfy shoes. But these clothes allow me to get dressed quickly so I can respond to your needs. They allow me to bend and reach and cradle, and snuggle without worrying about wrinkles. They allow me to climb and

What makes a good parent?

What makes a good parent?

What makes a great parent? Or even a good one? It’s a question that I have asked myself many times over. I used to know the answer…before I had kids. Oh yeah, it was so clear to me back then. Good parents set boundaries, loved fiercely, read nightly, kept to a routine, played lots of classical music, prayed with their kids, helped with homework, disciplined, modeled values, and showed up. And in return they had well-behaved, polite, kind-hearted, honest, hard-working

What do we say to the parents?

woman comforting friend

At least 31 killed in weekend mass shootings. That’s what the headline read. I recall a particularly dark night, a little more than a year ago when I held my son, helping him to calm his breathing and slow his tears. I won’t go into details, but suffice to say my son, who has OCD and an anxiety disorder, went to a terrifying place and was almost swallowed up by it. As I whispered words of comfort and Truth in

Why are you so afraid of my child with special needs?

failed my child

Several weeks ago, my son came home devastated because one of his close friends told him that his parents didn’t want him to be friends with my son anymore. To the little boy’s credit, he told my son he didn’t care what his parents said, he still wanted to be friends. But the damage was done. My son, who has been diagnosed with OCD and anxiety disorders, could not get it out of his mind that there was an adult

How do we prevent sibling rivalry?

How do we prevent sibling rivalry?

As a mom of three kids, two of whom are twins, one of my biggest challenges is keeping sibling rivalry at bay. I realize that some form of sibling rivalry is inevitable and it’s been happening since the beginning of time (thank you very much, Cain and Abel). My sister and I certainly fought and competed with one another growing up. But I always imagined — before having children – that my kids would love and support one-another, growing-up to

The 52 days that gave me strength and hope

running at sunrise

“God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.” – Psalm 46:4 Recently I was looking at Facebook and a collection of my “September memories” popped up. At first glance, I smiled thinking about all the joy and special times that had come in September. But the reality is there were also a lot of not-so-great moments, struggles that left me feeling very depleted and scared. In late-August my son was diagnosed with

No more labels, no more boxes

unlimited possibilities

You’re only 11 years old and yet I am beginning to see the bruises left by society’s labels for girls; from comparing yourself to others and deciding you don’t measure up, you aren’t as good. And it breaks my heart. But I am resolved that it doesn’t have to continue, that together we can demolish the world’s benchmark and bust out of that box you are trying to put yourself in. We can drown-out the voices of others so you

The surprising truth about parenting a teenager

my beautiful teenager

You don’t have to be a parent to know that the general consensus around raising teenagers is “oh boy, hold on to your hat, it’s going to get bumpy” or perhaps something a little more blunt than that. There is this universal understanding that the teen years are the hardest to navigate as a parent, with perhaps the exception of the toddler years. I see it every time someone learns that I have a 14 year old daughter and they

International Women’s Day: You strike a woman, you strike a rock

International Women’s Day: You strike a woman, you strike a rock

Updated March 6, 2020. Originally published August 9, 2014. Several years ago I was in South Africa on a business trip that happened to coincide with their Women’s Day. The national holiday, which is celebrated each year on August 9th, commemorates the day in 1956 when  20,000 South African women marched to government buildings in Pretoria to protest the inequality of women, including a law that required black women to carry “identity passes”. The peaceful protest marked a significant milestone

The gift of broken tear ducts

The gift of broken tear ducts

When I was 17 years old my aunt took me to see “Miss Saigon” at the Kennedy Center. I cried ugly, drippy tears throughout a good part of it and felt a gut-wrenching loss and sadness for the characters in the story. The next day I bought the soundtrack. I remember driving in my little blue Hyundai Excel, listening to that cassette tape over and over, just sobbing as I drove, even months after seeing the show. It was then