I don’t know what I’m doing. Literally. When Scott set up this blog for me almost 7 years ago, he wanted me to delve in because he knew blogging was the wave of the future. After all, he works in IT. He believed me when I said 8 years ago that I sensed God calling me to write. He also believed me when I said God gave me no guarantees about being published, just that I’m supposed to write. So... Read more

I made it through the weekend without fighting with my daughter, which means we’ve managed 3 whole days of not fighting after a business trip! I knew it would be challenging. Scott was at the monastery for a long-sought after and well-deserved retreat of silence. I had 5 Sleeping Beauty shows to get Ren-Ren through while also serving on the make-up committee. Stress was going to be high. And it was. Here’s an example: Context: Friday afternoon after school She:... Read more

12.5 hours after flying home, I haven’t yet fought with my daughter who always picks a fight when I travel, even though she’s taking another MCAS test today. My strategy thus far has involved employing her languages of love. Unfortunately for me, everyone in my family likes all 5 languages of love Dr. Gary Chapman writes about in his book The 5 Love Languages: quality time gifts words of affirmation physical touch service I don’t really resonate with any of... Read more

I’ ve just experienced exactly 63 hours of Lenten success, avoiding criticism for that entire time. The secret? I was on a business trip and therefore spent not a single minute with my kids. Of course, I totally blew it the morning I left, not just descending into criticism but also what could be called cursing and laying the biggest most awful mother guilt trip I’ve ever done. Here’s what happened. The night before I left, we sat down over... Read more

My pastor likes to say he’s broken more fasts than any of us have ever started with. I’m glad for that knowledge, because after a weekend spent with my kids I can’t even count the number of times I’ve broken my criticism fast! Because if the key characteristic of criticism is disapproval, I’ve got disapproval down like no other Mama out there. I can spin things and say I wasn’t really criticizing anyone. I called no child a lazy bum... Read more

I knew it wouldn’t be easy. Anyone who read the comment Ling left predicting my fast would last until all 3 kids came home can discern that no one in my family believes I can do it either. Case in point: Yesterday afternoon I took my son to get his new cell phone. He begged me for a phone with a keyboard. I said we’d see what came free with the family plan. At the AT & T store, sure... Read more

Happy Ash Wednesday! For those from non-liturgical backgrounds, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, 40 days leading up to Easter (Sundays don’t count because they’re seen as mini-Easters). It may be a misnomer to say “Happy Ash Wednesday” in light of how the main theme of Ash Wednesday is remembering “From dust you came and to dust you will return” as a priest puts ashes on you’re forehead in the shape of a cross. But I grew up in... Read more

My father used to threaten that he would die if he didn’t have Chinese food at least 6 days a week. As a result, we ate a lot of Chinese food every night for dinner: white rice with a meat dish and a vegetable dish. Although my mother is a fabulous cook, I didn’t prefer rice and I didn’t eat much of what I didn’t like, so I ranked among the 3 skinniest girls in my grade for all of... Read more

I just said no to my first string bikini. Not one for me—I said no to that piece of clothing years and years ago—but my 12 year old daughter wants a bikini and found the cheapest one at the Forever 21 outlet while we were in Orlando. But it was a string bikini, one with little tied bows on each side. I didn’t check to see if pulling the strings would make the bikini bottom fall off, but believe me... Read more

I don’t do well on vacation. Scott notes that while I’m generally not that stressed out in normal life, put me on vacation and I get much more tightly wound, grumpy and out of sorts. Talking it over with my sister while standing in the “It’s a Small World Ride,” I realized it’s because I’m a “P” on the Myers-Briggs. A “P” is a person who loves openness, spontaneity and possibilities. At work, I act like a “J”, a person... Read more