Stress is not a choice. Just getting out of bed is stress. Getting out of your pajamas is definite stress and let’s not even talk about checking your email. Then there are the really epic stressors, like finding your life’s purpose. Or raising kids without being both aloof and clingy. Or trying to make it through the day without eating an entire tub...Continue Reading
What a weird week for the weather. And for us control freaks. Tropical Storm Bill has caused an infinite loop of if-then scenarios for our family. If they cancel swim team, then we’ll have more time to get to camp. If they cancel camp, then we’ll go to Target. If we try to get groceries, then...Continue Reading
Here’s what happened when our family unplugged from our busy schedules. Spoiler alert: in just a couple weeks, our usually efficient household became a frat house of sloth. It all started in May, when the busy month fried our family. We gritted our teeth through every ballet recital, every end-of-the-year party, and every research paper, holding on to the glittering promise of...Continue Reading
Last week I wrote about brothers and sisters and that I worry how our kids’ relationships will turn out. Is their constant fighting a sign of what’s to come? Is there any way their friendships can stay intact through their childhood hurts and tough adolescence? Honestly, the odds of our kids staying close seems dismal. Most adults I know struggle to get along with...Continue Reading
Summer feels like suddenly going camping with all your co-workers. When there’s not much on the schedule, everyone gets real. The kids become each other’s best (and worst) playmates. These brothers and sisters suddenly have all day for sword fighting, baking, giggling, Lego-building, and daydreaming together. Like other moms, I watch my kids playing and fighting and wonder what this...Continue Reading
Happy Last Day of School! We’re finally here. After six years of class parties, recess four-square, playgrounds, fast-facts, and planners, you get to say good-bye to Elementary School. Welcome to Middle School. Welcome to lockers, your own laptop, friends with cell phones, adolescence, crushes, and long nights of homework. Welcome to a weird time in your life....Continue Reading
Thanks to the constant rain this month, Texas is flooded. The bayous are swollen, the streets are impassable, and yards are like swimming pools. This kind of weather is so fitting for May, a month also flooded with commitments, parties, emotions, and stimulants. We introverts can handle the a light, steady rain of stimuli. We can smile...Continue Reading
We’re in the process of booking Best of Times for the summer. Our renters are mostly families who live in Texas suburbs and come to the coast for vacation. Back home, their planned-community homes are brick, and big, and beautiful. Six-foot privacy fences separate yards, and these yards are filled with trampolines, swimming pools, and swing sets. Every day landscaping crews...Continue Reading
Yesterday my kids were on their best Mothers Day behavior. They told me they loved me, made glittery cards, and showered me with Rainbow Loom bracelets. But today is a new day, and my kids are back to fighting. My kids fight because they’re jealous of each other. Each of them wants to have all my...Continue Reading
As a stay-at-home/work-from-home mom, my schedule is flexible. In theory, this open schedule allows time with my kids. My flexibility means I’m available to help when the kids’ school needs a volunteer and to make sure the house is running smoothly. On a good day, being a stay-at-home mom means I can say yes to anything. But the trap is that...Continue Reading
