What She Said
Can we find that perfectly magical place between scarcity and excess? I hope we can this Christmas! Read more
Can we find that perfectly magical place between scarcity and excess? I hope we can this Christmas! Read more
Conan, a twelve-year-old homeschooled friend of ours, is obsessed with the Revolutionary War. He spends his days reading about the war, re-enacting the war with figurines he made himself, and playing in the local fife and drum corps. An eleven-year-old homeschooled friend is a teaching assistant at Harvard. He spends his days doing problem sets and helping undergrads with their proofs. Another homeschooler we know cooks all day and reads cookbooks late into the night with a headlamp. Like most... Read more
Oh, the dilemmas! Do we send a picture? Should it include us or just the kids? (Really, does everyone need to know about those extra 10 pounds?) Do we look happy enough? Do we look too happy? How much do we say? What about our struggles? Our accomplishments? How do we sum a year in a card? Read more
“I’m feeling sad,” I said to my 13 year old daughter when she asked why I heaved a deep sigh. “Why are you feeling sad?” “Because I feel like a failure as a daughter and a mother.” I had just dropped my parents off at the airport. Even though I wanted them to come, even though I miss them terribly when they’re in Hawaii and I’m in Boston, even though a good Chinese daughter should selflessly serve her parents and... Read more
I’m in a season of re-reading books that have inspired me. I blogged about Po Bronson’s book over at What She Read. I’m halfway through this book about Zappos. And next in line is Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project. One new take-home for me from the Zappos book is a way to discern what I value. The author,Tony Hsieh, suggests an exercise: Think about the people you admire…and the people you don’t. Write down the qualities that stand out in both... Read more
If you’ve traveled at all during this holiday season, you’ve seen it: The perfect moment. In the driveway, by the baggage claim, at the curb, parents eagerly awaiting their grown children, grandchildren bouncing as they strain to catch the first glimpse of grandma through a window, sisters throwing open the front door for their brothers. Then the delighted giggles, the emotional handshakes, the sincere bear hugs. Laughs. Questions about the flight. Offers of favorite food. Little, trivial questions made momentous... Read more
A few years ago, my mother gave me a Christmas pillow on which a picture of Santa’s naughty and nice lists was embroidered. She had a strange smile on her face when she gave it to me and once I looked at it closely, I figured out why: Both my and my sister’s names were on the ‘naughty’ list. Nice, Mom. Or should I say, naughty? For years moms and dads the world over have preached Santa’s naughty/nice list theology... Read more
I love giving presents better than receiving them. Really. There's a certain delight that comes when I find the perfect gift and realize, "I've nailed it." Read more
Here is a two-minute video of the nursery kids from our church talking about how they honor their parents. Ezra found a way to get himself into the nursery video even though he’s well past nursery age. (He has a small narcissism issue, but we try to take on one problem at time over here.) For the last twenty seconds, you can see Ezra’s all too perfect imitation of himself when he is less than honoring of us – which... Read more
Twenty Sunday school students sit in rapt attention as I roll out the Advent story. The script, the candles, the materials – they draw us in. As we get ready to hear the story of the Holy Family, the story for the second week of Advent, I say: The church learned long ago that it takes time to enter a mystery like Christmas. They gave us four weeks to get ready. During that time, we are all on a journey. A... Read more
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