Dear Kindergarten Teacher, Hello. It’s me again. How’s my favorite superhero? I love that summer rewards you with the simplest lesson plan… R-E-C-E-S-S written across several weeks worth of calendar squares. Carefree. Playful. I can hear the exhale. You get to trade ABC’s for Vitamin D, sight words for sightseeing, and circle time for YOU time. It is the perfect perk of your paramount profession. I really hope the livin’ has been easy this summertime. As a new school year approaches, I am sending this letter with a medley of emotions. It is the last letter you will receive from me because SHE is the last kiddo you will receive…
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Your 9th Birthday
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are gray. And today, my beautiful daughter, you are illuminating the skies of life as you glow at high noon — halfway between the dawn and dusk of your childhood. You are turning nine, which in turn leaves only nine years to go. Then our 7-pound, 12-ounce bundle of joy becomes an all-grown-up bundle of adult. So here we are, smack in the middle of you being a kid. Such an AWESOME kid. And I have been afforded the gigantic pleasure of holding onto every little moment with you. Holding you in the wee hours of those…
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Dear 2020 Kindergarten Teacher
Dear Kindergarten Teacher, Hello again. Some time has passed since I last wrote to you — approximately a hundred eternities if you consider the last few months. I hope this letter finds you well, in every sense of the word. Let me thank you (for the umpteenth time) for nurturing our firstborn’s mind and heart two years ago. Her chair was small, your energy was big, and together you chicka-chicka-boom-boomed through SUCH a fantastic kindergarten year. This momma is forever grateful. When “school-as-we-once-knew-it” came to a grinding halt this spring, I thought about you. I thought about March 12, 2020 being the last date in your classroom’s pocket calendar. I…
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Upside Down
A week before Brady Shae and Brooks were born, my dad traveled to Florida to help prepare their nurseries. He shopped for supplies, painted walls, hung shelves, and installed chair rails. Then he stayed long enough to meet his new grand babies. I remember the goodbyes feeling extra hard after those special visits. Maybe because of hormones or sleep deprivation, but probably because of love. Fast forward two years, and we were pregnant with baby number three. And sure enough, baby number three needed a nursery too. My heart knew exactly who I wanted to call upon for help, but flights from Heaven simply were not available. My dad passed…
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Our Books
Today is his birthday. But you won’t catch me giving him a birthday card. Nope. I stopped six years ago. You see, the only thing he likes less than tomatoes or bad drivers or the Orlando Magic choking in the fourth quarter… is shopping for a greeting card. So in 2014, we broke up with Hallmark and started something new. We call them our books, and we each have one. Here’s how it works. It’s pretty simple (and pretty genius). When faced with a card-worthy occasion, we write in each other’s book. The end. Valentine’s Day. ✔️Anniversary. ✔️Father’s Day. ✔️Birthday. ✔️Because. ✔️ While I have no qualms about publicly sharing…
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Light in the Darkness
A couple of months ago, as I tucked our first grader into bed, her soft heart posed a hard question — “Are there really bad guys with guns who shoot people?” As those heavy words hung in the air, I felt her innocence hanging there too. Our little girl, clutching her kangaroo and blankie, sought big truth about her world. I had to get this one right. So we talked about good guys. I assured her we are surrounded by good guys — people who help and protect and love. Mommy and daddy are good guys. Our family and friends and neighbors are good guys. Police officers are good guys.…
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Three Gracos
When I look back, I see three Gracos. Bulky, crumb-filled reminders of the road I am currently navigating — motherhood with little kids. Not little in the sense of bottles or diapers or insane sleep deprivation (I already earned that gold star, thank you very much)… but little enough to require five-point harnesses, 5T clothing, and 500% of my energy. As I stare at those [rarely empty] car seats, I inevitably hear the sentimental warning. You know the one. “Enjoy it, momma. It goes so fast.” Then I sigh. Because truth be told, I don’t always enjoy it. Time actually goes painstakingly slooooow when you’re in the thick of littleness.…
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Ten Years
Last weekend, while our village graciously tagged in and loved our babies for a few days, Christopher and I snuck away to celebrate ten years of us. I wanted warm sunshine; he wanted good food. We settled for both. Unfamiliar with the area, my groom reached out to his old buddy for restaurant recommendations — the kind of old buddy you don’t see often enough or talk to often enough, yet your friendship was solidified years ago, so time and space are inconsequential. He offered several must-try options, and an authentic Italian ristorante ultimately scored our dinner reservation. Buon appetito! The cuisine was scrumptious. We indulged. We toasted to ten…
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Social Media, We Need to Talk.
Social media. I love you. I do. A whole lot. However, we are at a crossroads, and we need to reevaluate our relationship. Update our status, if you will. I think we should see other people. Hear me out, please. I thoroughly enjoy my time with you. You fascinate me. And quite truthfully, I am indebted to you. You have opened the floodgates to valuable, far-reaching connections I otherwise might not have. You have offered ten years’ worth of support and humor and entertainment and interaction. You have provided me with a sounding board and a friendship forum. You are my not-so-private diary and my most creative scrapbook. You are…
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Light
I have this special friend who did this special thing. A few years ago, this special friend presented a request to her buddy in Colorado — someone I have never met; a photographer. She asked him to capture a sunrise. A very specific sunrise. A February 24, 2016 sunrise. This friend knew my story. She knew that one year earlier, the sun rose on my cloudiest day — a day that left me stumbling in an unfamiliar, unwelcome valley. My heart’s broken pieces were scattered in the darkness. Shadows loomed. Yet I quickly discovered… Shadows indicate the presence of light. This February, I want to remember the light — people’s…
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Love Is All We Need
I recently created this sign during my best friend’s 40th birthday party. “If you want to bring happiness to the whole world, go home and love your family.” I’m a quote junkie. Meaningful words nudge me. Going through a tough time? Embarking on a new adventure? Feeling ______? You can bet your bottom dollar I will toss you a famous quote… and the trajectory of your existence will be exponentially inspired. Something like that. Anyway, I made this sign. I chose this quote. The best part? I carried the darn thing onto an airplane. Hello delightful flight attendant, I am [quite literally] going home to love my family, and according…
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Dear Kindergarten Teacher
Dear Kindergarten Teacher, I have written this letter a hundred times in my head. An ever-evolving mental rough draft, anticipating every detail of a far-off, “someday” reality that now stares me square in the eyes. Kindergarten. Our firstborn. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can. Hello, my name is Mommy. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Let me just start with — I really hope your summer was adventurous and relaxing and splendid. You sooooo deserve it. Your work is full and tireless, and you fully deserve to be less tired. I hope this summer gave you that… and more. Welcome to a new school…
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All I Need to Know I Learned From a Child
The lessons we teach our children are loud and purposeful; the lessons children teach us are quiet and powerful. Little hearts, beating with simple joy. Little eyes, twinkling at the magical mundane. The smallest among us, imparting the biggest wisdom. Without any effort or expectation. Time and time again. They live and grow; we watch and grow. It’s a beautiful exchange. Our baby girl — she recently spent two nights in the local children’s hospital. Reactive airway disease (baby asthma) coupled with viral pneumonia generated the perfect storm inside her tiny body. It took all she had to gather precious oxygen. Wires entangled her. Machines beeped. Medical staff hustled. And…
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Bathroom Besties
Dear Mom Who Just Wants to Brush Her Teeth and Maybe Apply Some Wrinkle Cream, Your bathroom is fascinating. You are fascinating. You + your bathroom = so ridiculously fascinating. Plus there’s that mysterious magnetic force that yanks your children from Point A (any place inside your house) to Point B (your fascinating bathroom) at the faintest dripdripdrip of the faucet. BAM! There they are. Flush any hope of alone time down the john. Your wide-eyed audience awaits you. So grab them a couple step stools and a palette of washable face paint… and embrace the fact that a “kitty cat” and “monster truck” love you and won’t always find…
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It’s Okay If You’re Not Okay
“Please let me be the first to punch the next person who tells you everything happens for a reason.” I saw this recently and had to chuckle. Its adversary — “Everything happens for a reason”— has always been my jam. I mean, who doesn’t appreciate a glass half full mentality, right? I’m a gal who tries to throw optimism like confetti. Happy, happy, joy, joy. Lemons = lemonade. But apparently, there are highly-annoyed individuals ready to sock me in the nose. Ack! I get it, though. I do. No one wants to hear Miss Positive Pants celebrate every cloud’s silver lining… when some clouds are in fact dark and gray…
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The Good Old Days
“Someday soon, your whole life’s gonna change. You’ll miss the magic of these good old days.” Thank you Macklemore and Kesha, for giving this heart something to ponder. The good old days. They become sentimentally vivid when we peer at them through hindsight. The word “old” inferring they happened once upon a lovely time. And what we wouldn’t give to be momentarily back there — fully present, fully aware. So we think about them. Our good old days. Yours. Mine. And with beautiful clarity, we remember how really, really GOOD they really, really were. But… what if? What if on this day, right here and right now, you are actually…
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Tomorrow – A New Year
Brad Paisley. Not only does he create incredible country music, but he also formulated a pretty rad quote for the New Year. “Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one.” A good one. A New York Times best seller. A year’s worth of jubilation; a really cool page 134; a string of well-written pages you can’t help but dog-ear and reread over and over again. That’s my wish for your 2018 story. But I know. Volume 2017 or 2015 or 1995 sits on the shelf as proof that sometimes, mid-sentence, life can snatch the pen from your hand and scribble on the pages…
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Who Are Your People?
Who are your people? In a world of seven billion — they are yours, and you are theirs. Aligned perfectly by space and time and design. Nothing, not one thing, more valuable. Who? Be near to them, in every way. Put down your phone; look at them. Laugh with them, be silly with them, wrap them in your arms. Give them YOU, every single drop. (They’re thirsty for that.) And while you’re at it… Savor your new people; miss your old people. Say “I love you.” Show “I love you.” Make each moment count, because that’s what life is — an accumulation of moments. And at the heart of it…
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What Lifts You?
#whatliftsyou When you step into those 20-foot wings, you can’t help but contemplate the hashtag. What is it that lifts you? Inspires you? Moves you, warms you, takes hold? If we decelerate enough to ponder it, I bet the answer could guide the trajectory of our day… our week… maybe our life. If we let it. #whatliftsyou A myriad of things hoist my heart to the sky— small things, big things, and things that aren’t things. I’m lifted by a heckuva lot. For now, though, I will say GRATITUDE. Gratitude lifts me. It lifts me, and it simultaneously grounds me. I am so grateful. For people — how weird and…
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The Love is Equal
I’m guessing most parents do it. Probably teachers too. We call our children by every wrong name — our brains aimlessly flipping through the Rolodex — before landing on the child’s actual name. You know, the name they were given at birth, by which they have been addressed… I dunno… since always! “Stacy…… Keith….. Lesley….. Whoever You Are….. NATALIE!” Why does this happen? Are we THAT tired?!?! Once upon a time I heard a perfectly perfect explanation for this common slip of the tongue, and whether or not it’s supported by actual psychological research… who cares. I like it. We erroneously spew a string of incorrect names prior to [ding,…