Beyond Just Mom

A post-it to add to my fridge, asked by a wise mentor mom a couple of years ago:

How much fun am I
to live with?

It’s a good antidote to the hen-pecking. 
That’s all.  How much fun are you today?
photo credit: demi-brooke

1)  Big news at our house:  We have hot water!  (actually, earlier this week–I haven’t gone THAT long without a good shower).   I can’t tell you how much we appreciate it since that very small bit of deprivation.  It’s a good thing we have plenty of water in Michigan.  And I know, many areas are [...]

Is this a familiar theme in your household?
How was your day? fine.
What happened at school? not much.
Wanna talk about it? not really.
It seems like no matter how hard I try, those questions never seem to get much information. A wise school counselor once suggested I use different words to ask the same question. Just [...]

I think people knew something about grace long before we had today’s words for it. 
Just down the Kona coast from our temporary Big Island home is Pu’uhonua o Honaunau, a National Park and preserved ancient Hawaiian village that includes The Place of Refuge.  It’s a haunting and beautiful sanctuary where ancient Hawaiian royalty–the kings and big [...]

For the new year, I find it helpful to revisit key principles of parenting, faith and other things.  Here’s a post I wrote in the beginning of my blog about parenting:
I lead workshops for parents to build communication and relationship skills.  I do this not because I’m a perfect parent (far from it), but because it [...]

When I started this site a few months so very long ago, I wrote a few foundational posts on the key words of my byline:  reflections on family, faith and the flux of life.  At that time no one was around to read them, so I thought I’d start the new year fresh with a [...]

I must admit, I’ve been slow getting into the Christmas spirit.  Maybe because we traveled for Thanksgiving weekend.  Maybe because I’ve been working most weekends lately, while all the “good moms” are cooking and crafting and bonding with their families.  Maybe it’s because I’ve been trying not to get too caught up in all the [...]

This weekend, I’m enjoying the luxury of being a guest in my husband’s childhood home.  It’s not often that I get to sleep in, enjoy great food and wine, and relax with my extended family.   Both G and I are so thankful that both sets of our parents are healthy, happy and fun to [...]

If money were no object, how would you plan the perfect reunion?
I would invite friends and family who have scattered all over the world and bring them together.  I’d include people from my hometown I haven’t seen in ages, people from college, colleagues from my professional career days, and friends with whom I’ve lost touch.  I’d [...]

“Mom, what’s good about mosquitos?”
My kids ask this on a regular basis, because I taught them to look for a good purpose for everything.  We’re still debating what purpose mosquitos serve beyond spreading disease and feeding bats.  Of course, I do understand natural selection, and the mosquito question is one of the smaller evils that can stump us, [...]