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Life Lately

November 18, 2019

 

Real talk: I’m over taking phones or grounding my kids as consequences for stupid behavior because those things both punish ME. My new philosophy for consequences is to ask: 1. What can they learn from, and 2. How can they serve me. I’ve also been making a habit of long YouTube playlists that fit the issue. Ted Talks, motivational speeches, educational programming … and I make it LONG and related to what they are struggling with. They they write an essay on what they learned. Also, chores. Some that benefit them and some that benefit me. My kids work their way out of restrictions and everyone is happier for it.

Taking advantage of the 91 degree fall day

11ish. Sleepover central. I tell them all one last time to quiet down. They ignore me. #onedayhh #onedaylate

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8ish. Broke away from kid mayhem for a worship night with @katietorwalt and @bryantorwalt. Yes, I’m a progressive, deconstructed, gay-affirming, immigrant-advocating social justice Christian. But I’m also still a hand-raising happy clappy worshipper. These things can co-exist. The Torwalts are my favorite. #onedayhh #onedaylate

A post shared by Kristen Howerton (@kristenhowerton) on Nov 16, 2019 at 8:48pm PST

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6ish. I’m getting texts from from skate park. It’s how both boys usually spend their weekends.

A post shared by Kristen Howerton (@kristenhowerton) on Nov 16, 2019 at 7:37pm PST

Picked up India from her tech rehersal for Elf. She’s playing the character Zoey Deschanel played in the movie. It opens this weekend so if you are local come see! She babysat until 10:30 last night, had a performance in the morning, and a 6 hour rehearsal. She’s tired. And yet somehow a friend is sleeping over. 😂 #onedayhh #onedaylate

Dropped Karis and her friends off for a friend’s birthday party – overnight at a hotel. I love this idea and plan to steal it. #onedayhh #onedaylate

Picked the boys up from @microsoft where they learned how to build an app with their @100blackmenoc group. So grateful for this group of mentors. #onedayhh #onedaylate

A little break from the next round of taxi driving. It’s cute because you can’t hear it. Most weekends I have a house full of extra kids and I really do love it. #onedayhh #onedaylate

 

Next up was Karis’s final demo for the year, which started as India’s was still going and was not at all stressful. 😩 This is Karis’s third year at South Coast Rep and she’s caught the theater bug too. Yesterday she auditioned to be in Madagascar the musical at her school. #onedayhh #onedaylate

 

India had her final performance for the year at South Coast Rep this morning. It’s an amazing regional theater and we are so lucky to live close enough for the kids to train there. She’s in junior players this year, which is an auction-only group of kids who’ve been in the program 3+ years. It’s rigorous but she’s loving it. They will be doing a full-length play in the spring. She goes straight from this performance to tech rehearsal for Elf at her school where she’s playing the lead. #theaterkids –#onedayhh #onedaylate

Yesterday my friend @laura.tremaine hosted the #onedayhh, a day when people are invited to share the details of their day. I love doing it but forgot it was yesterday until mid-afternoon: So here I am, #onedaylate. And today is a doozy! No lazy Saturdays for us this year. I drop the boys at @100blackmenoc (STEM day at @microsoft!) and then head straight over to the theater where both girls have a performance today.

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Would love to see her classmates figure out how it works that Jafta and Kembe are adopted, and Kembe and India are “twins.” It’s like one of those brain twisters. THE DOCTOR WAS HIS MOM.

A post shared by Kristen Howerton (@kristenhowerton) on Nov 15, 2019 at 2:58pm PST

Stealing my jackets since 2014.

 

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An Ode to the Tot: a reversal poem by India Howerton

A post shared by Kristen Howerton (@kristenhowerton) on Nov 12, 2019 at 7:05pm PST

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Hi, I’m Kristen. I’m a mom of four kids via birth and adoption and a writer living in Southern California. Read More.

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