Lifestyle
Supporting Families of Kids With Special Needs During the Holidays
Our life is mostly chaotic, but it’s still beautiful. As a family, we try to take in and enjoy the happy moments when they come to us, and we would love to share them with you.
Early to Rise: A Window into My Life at 5:40 A.M.
I cherish my early mornings. Those minutes before the kids’ wake-up clock turns green are all mine. They help me stay sane. Here’s a window into my “early to rise” mornings — or a week’s worth of them, anyway — and what you can find me doing at 5:40 a.m. as I try to hold all the pieces together. This is not a tale of heroism. In fact, it might be a tale of foolishness. Though I bristle when I hear myself use the word “busy” to describe my life, here I am… busy.
Documenting Your Family’s Holiday Story Through Photos
Ah, Christmas. The lights! The presents! The snow! The cookies! The list of ways to celebrate is endless. When my daughter was first born I was so busy planning and executing that I would forget to pick up my camera until Christmas morning. In more recent years I’ve gotten a bit wiser, and I’ve started taking pictures much earlier. In fact, I pick up my camera in mid-November and don’t put it down until January.
An Open Letter to the Ladies Who Sat Next To Us at a ‘Family-Friendly’ Restaurant
See, things have changed a lot. Parents of young kids these days can be distracted — myself included. We have a lot going on, and technology and social media have created an additional burden on us despite all the ways they have made life easier. In part because of all the information we have available, we are constantly judging ourselves. Moms in particular struggle with comparing themselves and their parenting abilities to those of everyone they follow on Instagram or are friends with on Facebook.
Staying Calm and Present This Holiday Season
If the holiday season doesn’t go the way you envision, there’s always next year. Let’s not forget that the season is about the joy and the meaning of our holidays, not the junk, or the events, or all the things. You do the holidays your way, I’ll do them mine, and everyone else can go about it their way. Let’s go into this holiday season happy and excited with sound mind and presence so we can enjoy our children, our faiths, and our families — and a little of all the extras.
Giving Thanks for Dirty Diapers
I am so thankful for my amazing daughters, my loving and supportive husband, and my community. I am so grateful for the laughter, the songs, and the hugs that are constant in my life. And I am thankful for… dirty diapers.
When Thanksgiving Is Hard :: Gratitude in a Difficult Season
Halloween has come and gone, and that means we’re moving right into what many consider to be the happiest (and often busiest)…
Type 1 Mom :: World Diabetes Day
I must do certain things at specific times to maintain my health, but I must also be willing to adapt to given situations. I pack extra insulin, insulin pump materials, and low blood sugar treatments, right along with extra diapers, wipes, and clothes for diaper accidents. I take each day, each failure, and each victory one at a time. I forgive myself for high and low blood sugars as well as for losing my cool with my girls. I take time to take care of myself so I am available to take care of my family. While I would give anything for a cure for Type 1 diabetes, I know I would not be the woman and mother I am today without it.
Thank Our Veterans
My hope is that my children see me model this and it becomes something they copy and do themselves. My kids are 8, 5, and 2, so too young to really understand what it means that their “Pop” served in Vietnam. However, I do expect them to thank my father-in-law. Someday they will know and understand the sacrifices he made. And they can be just as proud of him as I am, and just as proud of him as I was of my grandfathers.
