• How Grief Made Me a Better Parent

    My son’s six-year-old playmate died suddenly not long ago and we are still going through the waves of grief. I still wake up at night to check on my own kids. I believe that Hunter is just now realizing it is a forever thing….I am sure that this will affect him forever. Sometimes I find him just gazing at her photo and I am comforted by the fact that he has his own interpretation of the afterlife. I have read on countless websites that you must impress on yourself and your kids that your life must go on. It is…

  • The Damaging Sentence I Will Stop Saying to My Kids

    Welcome Autumn, I missed you.   Is anyone else surprised that the leaves are changing “already”. I am. This is the time of year that change in nature is physically evident and I get antsy about changing things in my own life. One of those things I want to change is the way I word things, especially when it comes to parenting. A potentially damaging sentence I say a LOT is, “What’s your problem??” Every time I say it, I cringe. But, seriously, it is the first thing that runs through my mind in a lot of situations. Hunter is…

  • My Kids Learn How to Place a Call.

    Do you know what I realized as I dropped the kids off at their grandma’s for a week? I haven’t taught my kids how to dial a phone, or make an emergency phone call! I am kind of appalled with myself. So…before I left grandma’s house for the long drive home, I taught the kids how to dial my phone number and reminded them how to make an emergency call…and also what constitutes an emergency, just in case they thought not being able to find a toy counted. The wonderful off-shoot of this life skill being taught? My daughter has…