The Wink

Let’s Not

Have you seen this post making the rounds? At first glance it could easily be written off as one of those easier-said-than-done, lofty, self-improvement posts that only make you feel worse about yourself, but then you hit number 13 and think, “This was written by a human with real emotions,” and then you read something [...]

Go Get Your Tap Shoes

We were standing in the kitchen with the girls running laps and shrieking at the top of their lungs, the dog in hot pursuit, when I realized that if dinner wasn’t done in 30 minutes, the catastrophic domino effect would begin—bedtime would be so late that it would box out story time, which would squelch [...]

Staring it down

“Do one thing every day that scares you.” Eleanor Roosevelt Last weekend we took a family hike. It was absolutely gorgeous and required just enough of me physically and mentally that I found myself completely engrossed in the task at hand. We trekked through terrain that alternated between rocky, muddy and icy until we hit the summit of [...]

Always there

I had a scar once. It was the subtlest line of slightly raised tissue on the uppermost spot on my right thigh. I was fascinated with it as a little girl, crafting different scenarios by which I came to have it. These weren’t stories I shared with anyone, just events I explored in my mind. [...]

Instacharm

I took a while to hop on the Instagram bandwagon, but when I did, I did so without looking back. The thing is, I’ve had so many cameras fall victim to the intensity of our pace—hiking (rocks are not soft to land on), swimming (water is just so wet), traveling (things get misplaced), going in [...]

Bully

I don’t think I’d be making myself out as being terribly unique if I shared that I struggle with abusive behavior. We all do, right? No one likes people who are mean, duplicitous or unpredictable. It’s tough to know when to let it roll off your back and when to stand your ground. Which idiot [...]

Make Your Mark

I’ve learned a few things in the past couple of years. Some lessons have been deep: I am mortal. Some have not: These lips and lipstick don’t mix. The thing that has been life-altering has been the realization that in daring to be passionate about something, I surpass my own perceptions of what I can and can’t do. [...]

Wordless Wednesday

Who’s that girl?

Ever since a boy in Avery’s pre-k class destroyed, or at least put a major chink, in her love of navy blue and superheroes, I’ve been incredibly mindful of how I manage self. How exactly does one raise daughters without letting the pendulum of self swing too far to one side or the other? I [...]

Sleepless

“I can’t sleep.” It floats down from their room often; the voice behind it is always Briar’s. It’s never Avery, for her sleep comes like breathing. Sometimes Finley chimes in that she can’t sleep either, but she doesn’t mean it. Finley chooses not to sleep. She squeezes a bit more out of the day and then [...]