Reflections on Homeschooling, Parenting and Life
I wish I could take down all of my Advent reflections from the last week. It’s not that I don’t believe them anymore. It’s that they feel like a slap in the face right now. To those who are grieving, and frightened, and angry, the thought that this is a season of longing for Jesus [...]
Okay, here’s the thing: I don’t quite understand why you are buying Christmas presents. I mean, that is, if you are a Christian who celebrates Advent. In other words, if you spend four weeks preparing for the coming of Christ by fasting, repenting, telling ancient stories, refusing to sing songs with the word Hallelujah in them, or [...]
We have a very simple Advent routine around here. We light the candles in our advent wreath, tell a story, sing a song, and blow out the candles. Fifteen minutes of getting ready, of entering the mystery of Christmas, of awakening our longings for all to be made right. That’s it. As I wrote yesterday, [...]
Death is a horror. I don’t know how I forgot that, but I did. I’ve had moments of remembering, of course; you have to be sleepwalking through this world to refuse any awareness of the horror of death. What I forgot was the power of some deaths, or rather some loves, to bring on a [...]
My daddy died on Monday. He was a Jewish boy who grew up in New York during World War II. An Air Force officer and B-52 pilot who learned how to ignite farts outside the mess hall. A commercial pilot and taxi driver who got people where they were going. A chess master and amateur [...]
I want to be a pacifist when I grow up. But I’m not there yet. And as we stop for a day to remember and thank the men and women who have risked life and limb on my behalf, I thought I’d spend a minute thinking about why I just can’t get on the pacifist [...]
On Mondays, I repost older pieces that are somehow relevant again. Last week, a reader asked about whether homeschooling was delaying our children’s development, and this piece came to mind. I first posted it nearly two years ago, and it still speaks to me today. Thanks again to the young father who shared the idea with [...]
On Monday, Jake the Art Guy gave each student in our group a circle on which they could design either a coin or a charm to hang on a necklace. Zach announced that he would make a necklace, and then drew a necklace on his circle. Clearly, he didn’t quite get it. It made me [...]
I am currently parenting three kids, the youngest of whom is eight. Thank God. Because parenting two toddler boys who were only sixteen months apart nearly killed me. Yes, I adored them. Yes, I loved snuggling them and rocking them to sleep. Yes, they were cute and funny and broke my heart open in new [...]
Tonight, as I put my kids to bed before the debate, I remembered other nights when I let them stay up late to watch something on TV. But presidential debates are not worth lost sleep in our house. Being an engaged citizen matters, and I understand that engagement often involves politics. But I don’t think [...]
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