Tag: hard things

Looking for a way around the hard work?

“What did the Minutemen do and which goods were taxed by the Stamp Act?” I am doing my best to be patient. But. Fourth-grade homework isn’t for the faint of heart. My little guy turns himself sideways and …

When change moves everything around

If you want to watch a person lose a little bit of her mind, send her into a newly rearranged grocery store with five minutes until the bus drops off her child and tell her to find Ziplock …

What is it you want to grow?

He wanted to grow a cabbage. The biggest one ever, he declared as he carried his tiny plant home from the bus stop. He was waving this paper about prizes you could win if your cabbage grows the …

Running up hills

It’s a circle; four miles of hills and valleys that winds its way around the familiar streets of my neighborhood. When I need to exercise, all I have to do is lace up my shoes and go. I …

On being a friend and having a friend

There is no greater gift in life than the gift of a friend. I was six when I first got this. Six years old, and ridiculously shy. Friends were not my thing. I struggled to navigate school without actually having to talk …

Parenting, repenting and lessons of the heart

I am always trying to teach my kids a lesson. Always. Every cup of spilled milk, every argument, every accidentally broken picture frame, or bumped head is an opportunity to learn, “how to do it right the next …

The days of small steps

George has the greatest smile I’ve ever seen. It is the first thing I notice when I meet him. He flashes his grin, refers to me as “young lady” and immediately becomes my new best friend. George can’t …

Walk much?

I am not an athlete. Never have been. I can fall down standing still; and have no desire to beat anyone at anything. These are not positive attributes when it comes to sports. Somehow, though, in college, I …

Thankful for things you can’t fix?

I am thankful for things that I cannot fix. My kid raises his eyebrows at me. He’s trying to finish his “thankful for” homework list and  I am not cooperating. “That makes no sense, Mom!” He starts to …

How to do the things you don’t want to do

I hate lists almost as much as I hate math. Seriously. I will do anything to keep from having to enumerate life. My brain thinks freedom is found in being untethered, in lyric and cadence but never with …