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This new way of living is hard. My body aches by the end of the day, and I wake up in the morning exhausted. We were already a homeschool family, so that hasn't changed for us. But my five-year-old with autism has lost all her therapeutic services that we rely on. Actually, that's not technically [...]
It's such a weird Easter season this year. I'm trying to find a way to celebrate these holy days with reverence and importance right now, but honestly . . . my family just wants to watch Trolls 2 on TV together tonight. So the question becomes: do I fight it? Or do I give in? Because, I'm [...]
Anyone else having a tough time orienting to Holy Week? Or to time itself? I admit I'd mostly forgotten about Maundy Thursday until I saw Kate Bowler's reflection on Instagram. If you don't know Kate Bowler, she's a Duke professor of theology who's lived through the uncertainty of a terminal cancer diagnosis, an experience which [...]
I listen to a lot of female-hosted self-care podcasts, and LAWL, do those women love to reframe a narrative. It's a therapy-adjacent phrase that reminds us to change our perspective on a problem to view it in a more positive light. And I find it helpful most of the time. For instance, I've been trying [...]
As someone who's been thoroughly churched her whole life, I have a pretty robust philosophy on hardship and how it should be born. And when it stays in the theoretical realm, hardship always seems saintly. Martyr-ish. Noble. But when a particular problem arises, it feels a lot less beatific. I wasn't expecting this particular puddle [...]
This morning I set out to write something inspiring for parents stuck at home during the quarantine. I'm positive that it would have been very profound and beautiful, too, if the ABC Mouse app my son was using hadn't abruptly stopped working as soon as I opened my laptop. Then my daughter, who only seconds [...]
I had a revelation this month. Reading the Bible in a year can be so challenging because Leviticus and February hit at the same time. Reading these lists of laws can be monotonous, especially in the dark days of winter. But I was convicted this week by a verse in Nehemiah: "So Ezra the priest brought the [...]
I know I'm not the only parent wringing her hands about The Miseducation of the American Boy. After all the progress we've made, Peggy Orenstein's article exposed an underbelly of stubborn toxic masculinity that still pervades locker rooms, frat houses, and athletic teams. The TL;DR version is that while feminism has opened up multiple avenues [...]
Okay, maybe this is not everything that's entertained us this year. But let's be honest, nobody needs to see another baby Yoda meme, anyway. Here are some of the shows, podcasts, and books we couldn't help but share. I Miss You When I Blink by Mary Laura Philphott In this funny collection of essays, [...]
As writers, editors, and parents, Kate and I stay up to date on new children's book releases. After seeing Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls and a number of similar titles slide across our desks, we noticed that there was a gap when it came to empowering books for boys. Yes, maybe that's because boys have [...]
Spilled Milk 