family

  • Cookies and Tater Tots

    Each time I step into the my hometown elementary school to teach Kindergarten music, I’m hit with the smell of cookies and tater tots.  It’s a smell that brings me right back to the time when my kids attended this school, and it evokes strong memories of those long-ago days.  I can see my Kindergarten-aged…

  • My Mom, a month later

    My good friend, Courtney, lost her mother about a year before I lost mine and she recommended I write to process some of what I’m feeling lately.  It occurred to me that I haven’t really written about anything in a long time, which is rare for me.  I have felt overwhelming fatigue and I have…

  • On Worry

    This week, my mother started chemo again for the third time, and it’s scary and not something I can control.  In addition to that, there’s lots of everyday worries and changes that I’m trying to keep up with…trying to do my best.  At times lately, it feels like I’m treading water.  Today, I had to…

  • That’s What We Do

    I looked a beat too long at a young mother and her baby boy at Market Basket yesterday. She was settling him into the seat, and sweet talking in his ear. She might have been me sixteen years ago. She looked up and smiled, and I apologized, explaining that I sometimes really miss those days. We talked…

  • For my Hometown Moms

    Every so often, at a school or sports event, I will look out at the sea of kids and realize the rare privilege we have. We are connected because we occupy one speck of a dot on a map and we are raising our kids in this speck, at this time. We’ve watched this batch…

  • Twelve-going-on-thirteen

    As we get ready for Brian to start middle school, I find myself totally overwhelmed.  Twelve-going-on-thirteen is a rollercoaster.  Sometimes my son is incredibly annoyed by every member of our family (mostly me) and is steadfastly stubborn in his belief that everyone else is living a life much better and grander than his own.  At other times,…

  • Learning to Swim

    I have taken my kids to swim lessons at a local college for years and have always loved this program.  They swim for a half hour each day for two weeks, learning new skills quickly.  This has been an odd Summer since one of my kids is away at camp and this is the first swim…

  • My Daughter, My Hero

    We rarely get the opportunity to be truly present in a moment we know will impact our children’s lives.  Those moments are usually best appreciated in hindsight…they stand out to us because of what happened afterwards.  But last night, I got to witness something pretty amazing.  My eleven year old daughter had her very first violin…

  • Dear Poison Ivy,

      Dear Poison Ivy, No one could say the time we’ve spent together this week was fun, but now that the rash is receding from my face and neck, I’ve found I’ve learned a few things along the way for which I have you to thank. 1. Toxic lifeforms will give you advance warning if…

  • Orange

    Amid the hustle and bustle of the preparation for Christmas, I had been finding myself a little breathless. Even though I knew I should be spending more time praying, reflecting, and enjoying the season, it seemed my mind was full of things to be done, tasks to check off. In every Advent sermon, I heard…