“A Time to Remember, A Time to Forget”

Five years today. That’s how long we’ve been a family. Time to mix up a batch of my pasta salad and hit the beach! (In our case, it will be Lake Michigan — we spent the weekend at Craig’s parents’ cabin in East Jordan.) Looking back over pictures from the first months together, I realize [...]

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Weekend Ponderings: Sabbath Rest

The other day I was challenged to consider the concept of “Sabbath rest” as it pertains to mothers — perhaps especially “working mothers,” those of us with significant responsibilities (often but not always wage-earning) outside the home, making it difficult to cover all the bases at once. For those of us who grew up with [...]

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“Thinking Green” (Why Moms Need to Conserve Brain Cells)

Today over at her blog “Chocolate for the Brain,” my friend Sherri Antonetti writes about hitting a mental block with her third grader’s homework. I haven’t experienced this quite yet … my kids are still young, and thanks to my academic pursuits, I still have a few years before I become the Worlds Dumbest Parent. [...]

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“Handle with Care” — The Language of Loss and Family

This week I’m savoring Jodi Picoult’s latest novel about an autistic teenager, “House Rules.” I’m looking forward to reviewing that one in an upcoming post; in the meantime, I wanted to re-post my review of “Handle with Care,” which I recently ran on CatholicExchange, as my readers have had trouble accessing the link. (Warning: Review [...]

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“Monster Mommy” Mute Button

As I get ready for another week of substitute teaching, I think over the events of the past week, keenly aware of the “self-censoring” button that (judging from where my headaches originate) mothers have installed somewhere between the eyes. Every time a child says something that makes me bite my tongue until it bleeds, to [...]

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Weekend Ponderings: Come, Holy Spirit!

This weekend we celebrate Pentecost Sunday, the final day of the Easter season when the Holy Spirit fell upon the Lord’s closest followers in that Upper Room. This feast follows Ascension Sunday (originally celebrated on the previous Thursday, exactly 40 days after Easter), when Jesus returned to heaven. Although the story of the original Pentecost [...]

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“Why Wasn’t I In Your Tummy, Mommy?”

My response to my daughter’s question was posted at Catholic Exchange today.

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