Tag: parenting
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Our best summer ever: 3 things that helped
Perhaps the biggest lesson parenting has taught me is not to judge. I never understood parents who did the happy dance at the bus stop on the first day of school. For years I happily spent my days with my kid, homeschooling, and enjoyed the vast majority of those days. I was judgey about those…
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For the adoptive mom who feels hopeless, frustrated, or crazy
Blergh. That, my friends, is eloquent talk for how frustrated I sometimes feel in this life as an adoptive mom. It’s exhausting, and I’m not talking about the usual parenting-is-tiring stuff, which all moms know can be plenty challenging, especially at certain stages of life. Remember that movie “Groundhog Day,” where Bill Murray’s character repeats…
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Adopting a teen: 8 years later
As of last Sunday, it has been eight years since the day we finalized Lindsey’s adoption. In the courtroom on Lindsey’s adoption day, 2009: Eight years. In many ways, that feels like a lifetime ago. I look at that picture and I can hardly remember who we were then. Some of you have been reading…
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Hope for when your child walks away
There’s an old story of a young man who insists upon taking his inheritance early so he can go live it up in the big city and do whatever the heck he wants. To him, that’s what freedom looks like: no accountability, no one checking up on him. For a little while, he has himself…
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Parenting boys: looking ahead (and back) at the teen years
My first foray into parenting a boy was when I became stepmom to a teen already significantly taller than me. He drummed on everything (EVERYTHING) and could fall asleep anywhere (gets that from his dad), but has always been a likeable guy. He didn’t fit any of the negative expectations our culture tries to pin on…