At our house we have a standing requirement that all the kids’ cell phones stay in the kitchen when they go to bed. Boy, how the kids hate this rule! They make every excuse in the book as to why they need their cell phones in their bedroom at night. My favorite one is: “I must […]
My greatest lament during my divorce was the break up of my family. I knew in my heart that what was best for my kids was for them to be raised in an intact family by both parents. Because of the divorce, that dream was crushed. I felt so badly for my kids. I felt like […]
I go on a three-day, silent retreat each year. It is a very intense spiritual time, filled with much prayer and reflection. It never fails to refresh and renew my spirit and draw me closer to our amazing God. On one particular retreat, most of my thoughts and inspirations were centered on my children; it […]
SPLASH! The cold water now drenching my running shoes yanked me back into reality. I was outside with my four-year-old son watching him play with water balloons. He was getting a big kick out of filling them up and throwing them at the brick wall of the house and the bed of my pick-up. Him […]
I vividly remember telling my brother, who was accompanying me to an important custody hearing, that I was willing to do “whatever it takes” to maintain contact with my children should the judge not rule in my favor. And I meant it. I was even willing to quit my very well-paying job and take a teaching position […]
The list was quite long. It was my friend Sam’s list of all the things he wanted to make sure he got done during the week. He was beginning to panic as he thought about getting everything done while juggling work, parenting, and life commitments. Being a single-parent meant he had to do much of […]
Several years ago, I brought my then five-year-old daughter to the doctor for her annual physical. She was due for a couple of immunizations, and I was trying to find a delicate way of answering her repeated question, “Am I going to get any shots?” I managed to avoid answering the question directly with responses […]
When my son was two-years old he went through what’s commonly known as separation anxiety. If I stepped out of the room for a brief moment and he lost sight of me, he would panic. This panic took the form of blood-curdling screams, not the kind that are soliciting attention, but guttural, terrified calls for help. […]
It was a Sunday evening, and the scene at my dinner table was anything but pleasant. The kids were all snapping at each other, had a hard time sitting still, and were picking at the dinner I had spent the better part of the afternoon preparing. The kids just got back from a weekend with […]
When my son was two-years old he went through what’s commonly known as separation anxiety. If I stepped out of the room for a brief moment and he lost sight of me, he would panic. This panic took the form of blood-curdling screams, not the kind that are soliciting attention, but guttural, terrified calls for help. These screams and […]