The things we do for love. This past week, I have been more aware of how we who are parents change while we are on vacation- we become even better people than hopefully we already are. Not a real coincidence that all this happens while parents are on vacation from the real world. But, it …
A dear ‘stay-at-home mama’ friend of mine wrote her Facebook status today on ‘being present’. She briefly addressed the fact that she is with her children daily, but she is not always present with them. In this update, she vowed to be more present and ‘in the moment’ than she had failed to be in …
I do not believe in fairy tales, and neither do I believe in happy endings. Life, as I see it, is a series of imperfections, unfortunate experiences, and hard times that follow one after the other. People talk about life being beautiful, precious and wildly exciting, but I don’t see it. I really don’t. Life …
As I pen words, it is a dreary, soaking-wet, rain-drenched evening outside my sitting room window. We are all drying ourselves out after a torrential down-pour just moments ago, occurring just as we made a run for it from the van to the front steps. This onslaught also occurring after we all had walked through …
My Jumping Jellybean settled in for the evening inside her bedroom, I lie down on the double bed that serves as center piece, for evening stories and prayers. Tonight’s Bible verse is this: “…always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else (I Thess. 5:18b).” That pretty much sums it up. At …
Happy Hour at the Gard residence is officially beginning. It is that time of the night when mama bear can let her hair down, exhale a whole lot of hot air and cut loose on the computer while the little cubs hibernate in their little dens. There are no thankfully no audible sounds coming from …
It is about a million degrees in the house right now, this summer solstice evening. I have just come downstairs for the umpteenth time, floating on heat waves as I ride the banister. The last trip was to tuck my youngest daughter in bed with throw pillows and blankets all in place along with every …
How Not to Have the Vacay of your Dreams… I have had this recurring dreaming for the past couple of weeks . The dream goes mostly like this: I am finished work and school is out for the summer. In the shade a brightly colored beach umbrella, I am relaxing poolside with my favorite book …
I broke a fourth tooth in less than a year, all while eating a bagged lunch the other day. A lunch that my husband had prepared for me, nonetheless. I was eating alphabet pretzels when the tooth crumbled, in case you are wondering- creating a taste sensation of unparalleled proportions as it mixed in with …
I am in my closet, hiding from the child crying on the other side of the bedroom door. Instead of telling her to go away and allow me a moment’s peace whilst I stand here in my birthday suit, I ask her what (in the name of tarnation) is wrong. She informs me that her …
Ever had one of those days when you think you have all the time in the world, and then you discover you’ve forgotten something particularly significant? As in, picking up a child attending an after- school program? Yeah, me neither. But, let’s just say that “were” this to happen, it might go down like this: …
Reminded today that our children love us as we are: unconditionally, uninhibited, unequivocally. Children see in us beauty, strength, patience and understanding, things we often do not give ourselves credit for. They make us the hero- champions of all things wise and wonderful: beautiful princesses, brave knights, diverse and varied role models and mythic magicians. …