On Raising Twins: an Essay
I walk into his bedroom, checking on him for the seventh time, interrupting my writing to do it, which means I’m already annoyed. Put out. A touch angry. Maybe I waited too long to come in here, but there he is, sitting in the middle of a pile of clothes and their...
On Belonging to Yourself: a Short Essay
I have a quote attached to my cork board right above my desk, and it reads: “My wish for you is that you continue. Continue to be who you are, to astonish a mean world with your acts of kindness.” —Maya Angelou During my writing sessions, I often find my eyes...
We Count it All Joy: an Essay
Just a few days ago, I got a precious letter from a reader, thanking me for one of my essays. She found it because she was looking, because she’d just lost two babies, twins, and she needed some comfort. I have written many versions of this story, about the daughter...
On Childhood Depression: an Essay
I heard it first in a call from the school psychologist, summoned to get to the bottom of an eight-year-old’s acting-out behavior in the classroom two months ago (he was only seven years old when this journey began). But I heard it again in a face-to-face debrief...
On Birthdays: an Essay
Time has been holding my hand these last few weeks. Not in the way of an intimate friend, but in the way of an impatient parent trying to drag a slow-to-get-ready-child out the door so they won’t be late. It’s not the last stage of pregnancy that makes me feel so...
On Reading and Re-reading Books and a Worthy New Year’s Goal
Recently I talked with a group of third- and fifth-graders about how to cultivate creativity in a young life, and one of the first questions they asked me was this one: Who were your biggest influences when you were a kid? I hadn’t pre-prepared for any of the...
On Anxiety and Depression vs. Faith
It’s just a tiny thing, oval and white and smaller than the vitamins I swallow every single day, but I leave it on my desk and stare at it. It’s not the enemy. The panic-lump in my throat is the enemy, and this pill could help. I know this. But still I can’t bring...
On Talking About the Hard Things of Life
A couple of weeks ago, a kindergarten teacher at my boys’ elementary school died tragically in a fire during the early morning hours before school. We received a note from the principal in the late afternoon hours letting us know what had happened and how it would be...
The Danger and Delight of Practicing Gratitude
Every night around our dinner table, Husband and I ask a few questions of our boys, but the most important one, in our opinion, is this one: What are you thankful for today? We do this because we want to teach our children the practice of gratitude. Gratitude is a way...
A Little Look at the Value and Challenge of Community
Husband and I recently returned from a creative conference, where we got to interact and have conversations about all sorts of things with people we’ve never talked to anywhere but online. I found new friends, with whom I talked about miscarriages, plans for the...