On the second day of school, as he sits at the counter eating his breakfast, Brady asks me:“Mom, am I weird?”I know that's a word usually said with negative intent, especially when kids are using it to label children who seem so different. Like my Brady.I take a deep breath…
“BIG ONE, BIG ONE!! WATCH OUT!” I hear my oldest yell out to his three siblings who are in the ocean with him. It’s a serene morning; a luminous sky arching across the vast open beach, and the pounding waves are providing all the excitement they need. As soon as…
“I hope she is still on this Earth,” Brady whispers under his breath with some apprehension as we drive to the beach for the first time this summer. “Mom, is she still on this Earth?” I know exactly who he is talking about. It’s Ms. April, Brady’s 85-year-old surrogate grandma…
Summers always seem to have another layer of unpredictability that I've learned to embrace. By being open to the surprise happenings of a full day with four young adventurers, I am able to soak in a lot of joy amidst the waves of chaos and sporadic meltdowns. In the summer…
The room is a chaotic mess but not really. An intricate design of train tracks, hot wheel cars, and stacks of books with plastic racing track hanging down all take up the floor space of our large den off the kitchen. There are magnetic tiles pieced together in small multi-colored…
Waking up on a school morning, I take a moment in the coziness of my bed to keep my eyes closed and take a few slow deep breaths. I let my mind enjoy this brief time of quiet because it wasn’t always so quiet when the kids were toddlers. After…
Spring is a breathtaking reminder of how truly astonishing change can be. The forsythia bushes call out: “Look over here! Do you like our vivid yellow? Want to take off your sunglasses to see how brilliant we really are? Come on, do it!” The daffodils try their hardest against the lush…
I see him running with intention across the backyard. In his clenched hands, he carries small twigs, old fence pieces and broken branches. From our kitchen window, I can see that he’s clearly on a mission to create his own backyard haven. It is evident that he’s an outdoor enthusiast,…
Early on, those years when I was juggling 4 kids - ages 4 and under - I became stubborn about a few things. You see, in those early years, I'd declare by mid-morning that we all must "get in the car" because “we are going somewhere." My daily inclination to escape…
