My camera lens simply cannot capture what my eyes see. I don’t often see a sunrise. I’m more of a sunset sort of gal, but with four grandchildren under three at the beach with me this week after Christmas, I’ve enjoyed my fair share of both. This morning as the sky lighted over the ocean, …
Leveled
I came home to find a bare spot in my front yard. The extent of the gap wasn’t apparent until daylight the following morning. Autumn and the falling leaves always lets a little more light in from each sunrise but this was a new level of illumination. Even the room darkening shades were no match …
Unshakeable
This Election Day was different. It passed like any other day for me. I voted early in the day as I have in every Presidential election since I was eighteen. As one gentleman and I agreed as I exited the polling site, voting is both a privilege and a responsibility of citizenship. I thanked each …
Can I Trust You?
My life from age twelve asked, “Can I trust you?” I asked myself this of every human being I encountered, particularly males. Everyone became suspect, even God. I fear I am not alone in my questioning. You have been hurt, have you not? Your trust has been shaken by sickness, circumstance, or sin in the …
The Wrong Side of the Bed
Amelia has never been a great sleeper but at two, her inconsolable acid hours gravitated from evenings to mornings. You just never know whether she will wake all smiles, thoroughly rested and ready for the day or refuse breakfast with wails and sobs that defy consolation. Some mornings she just wakes up on the wrong …
Talking Myself Into It
After a dozen zoo trips in his second year, Thomas decided at three that he would feed the giraffes by himself. I’d held him while the imposing head reached through the rails and the long black tongue snaked out to take the greens from my outstretched hand. He talked about it after each visit, claiming …
Biting Isn’t For Babies
Toddler silliness can quickly escalate to ugliness. Hitting, pushing, or biting seem to come out of nowhere but if you’re paying attention, it has usually been building gradually toward a crescendo. Either both want to do the same thing or simply don’t want the other to do it. The most recent incident involved opening the …
Stir Crazy
We’re home now but the weather today reminds me of the first two and a half days of last week’s beach vacation, rainy and cold. Much too cool and windy outside for the two and six month olds, just cold enough to drain the excitement from the toddlers in the first five minutes, and no …
No Answer
I wanted so badly to reply but I bit my tongue. I felt the color rising in my face as I hung up the phone. Several remarks filed through my mind like a multiple choice question on a dreaded standardized test. I landed on none of the above, took a deep breath, and went back …
No More Wasted Time
When our kids aren’t sleeping or eating appropriately, we look at what’s going on in the moment to try and find a reason. The problem, however, most likely stems from something further back than we tend to look. Maybe they were exposed to a germ last week that has been working against their little systems. …
A Fitting Reply 