Category: Parenting
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Cast Out Fear – a post for autumn
Over the past two years, this post has become one of the most popular I’ve written. WordPress allows me to see how people find my blog – through search engines, Facebook posts and other online links – and this is one post people find through various searches on children’s literature and Barbara Cooney. Originally published…
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Part III: Fowl BRUTALITY in Lyon
While perusing the wares at the weekly international textile fair along Lyon’s Saône River, Little Man (11 months) let me know he was overdue for a feeding. Hubby took the girls exploring along the river walk while I found a bench in the shade. I got comfortable and baby started eating. . . and then…
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When honesty eclipses repentance
Every day a blog or article pops up in my newsfeed touting the 10 Things Parent’s Won’t Tell You or 10 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Having Children or something else along those lines. Someone confesses how challenging their life is, particularly compared to what it used to be, could be, or “should” be. Comments…
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Snapshot of Serenity
Sitting on my back porch, enjoying an unusually cool morning, I look down at the pool of urine around my ankles. No, postpartum incontinence hasn’t gotten the better of me. My almost-three-year-old decided she’d rather stay snuggled on my lap than take the long, four meter trek to the bathroom. She was soaked, my legs…
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Motherhood, Oatmeal and Delaying Gratification
I’m convinced the essence of motherhood is delayed gratification. Or, more realistically, the hope that our hard work and dying to self will yield positive results in our children. This dying-to-self business is a challenge. In my dream world, my children sleep until 9am (and go to bed at 7pm). I wake up, run, shower, read and…
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Turmoil in South Sudan – Interview with American family who calls South Sudan home
On Christmas Day you probably were not thinking about South Sudan. At least not very much. I wasn’t. But, if you are the Faders, you were. They left their home and relationships in South Sudan for a Christmas holiday, not knowing their return would be tenuous. A year ago the Faders were featured on willtravelwithkids,…
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The Ill-Fated Feast – Mom’s perspective
As I recalled the account of a fateful holiday meal, posted yesterday on Communicating Across Boundaries, I asked my mom to recount the event from her perspective: That Thanksgiving is a bit of a blurr. Of course, I wanted it to be perfect. Dad had gone to Malawi, by train, to get our beloved students.…
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The ill-fated holiday feast
Today I have the privilege of writing a guest post for Communicating Across Boundaries. Marilyn Gardner of CAB is a passionate writer who covers a wide range of topics. I appreciate her perspectives on culture and Third Culture Kid (TCK) issues. She spent formative years in Pakistan and has traveled extensively, with a keen eye…
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Parental pride at the President’s house – Monticello, Virginia
On the east coast of the United States historic sites are as numerous as the dust bunnies on my floor. There are a lot. And instead of cleaning my house and sweeping dust wads, we are being intentional about visiting some of those sites. Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home, was our most recent victim. Little Peanut…
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The boring meerkat, ubiquitous squirrel and chocolate acorn
Squirrels are America’s meerkat. The locals don’t bat an eye at them, but the visitor finds them fascinating. While living in East Africa, meerkats were boring. Meerkats, meerkats, more meerkats. At the American zoo, they draw crowds. I haven’t seen North American squirrels in a zoo in Africa (embarrassing disclaimer: I haven’t been to a…
will travel with kids 