I'll be the first to admit that I am way, way behind on Christmas this year. As of today, there's tree, no stockings, no lights, no presents wrapped. In fact I've failed to invoke any spirit of festiveness in my household except for a half-finished screening of Elf, which was interrupted because the host (ahem, [...]
Like Kate, I never though I'd be the homeschooling type. But 2020 had other plans for me. So while my son's preschool was cancelled, I took a turn in the driver's seat, teaching-wise, and let's just say I didn't hate it as much as I thought I would. Hence, these sight word puzzles that I [...]
I had mostly succeeded at scrubbing my vocabulary of curse words when my oldest child became sentient, but lately they've crept back into my head. And also my speech. Apparently dropping an F-bomb here or there releases endorphins, which is probably why these words keep rising to my lips unbidden. There is a serious lack [...]
Waking up to a whole day without any outings or childcare can be pretty daunting. Especially since we're going on week 8 -- or is it 8,938? -- over here. As much as I love my kids, there is a law of diminishing returns when it comes to spending time with them. The longer we're [...]
From Marilynne Robinson's Gilead : "For me writing has always felt like praying, even when I wasn't writing prayers, as I was often enough. You feel that you are with someone. I feel I am with you now, whatever that can mean . . . Well, but how deeply I regret any sadness you have [...]
I keep thinking of this line from Spanglish. Yes, the 2004 Adam Sandler rom-com which netted only 53% on rotten tomatoes. That one. We've brought you Dorothy Sayers, C.S. Lewis, and now . . . Spanglish. Bear with me. Let’s be friends: Join our email list Mid-way through the film,Tea Leoni’s character cheats on her long-suffering [...]
Anyone else having a tough time orienting to Holy Week? Or to time itself? I admit I'd mostly forgotten about Maundy Thursday until I saw Kate Bowler's reflection on Instagram. If you don't know Kate Bowler, she's a Duke professor of theology who's lived through the uncertainty of a terminal cancer diagnosis, an experience which [...]
I listen to a lot of female-hosted self-care podcasts, and LAWL, do those women love to reframe a narrative. It's a therapy-adjacent phrase that reminds us to change our perspective on a problem to view it in a more positive light. And I find it helpful most of the time. For instance, I've been trying [...]
As someone who's been thoroughly churched her whole life, I have a pretty robust philosophy on hardship and how it should be born. And when it stays in the theoretical realm, hardship always seems saintly. Martyr-ish. Noble. But when a particular problem arises, it feels a lot less beatific. I wasn't expecting this particular puddle [...]
This morning I set out to write something inspiring for parents stuck at home during the quarantine. I'm positive that it would have been very profound and beautiful, too, if the ABC Mouse app my son was using hadn't abruptly stopped working as soon as I opened my laptop. Then my daughter, who only seconds [...]
