Rage Against The Minivan

All my men are sleeping in the garage tonight.  In a tent.  A few weeks ago, Jafta got really excited about the idea of camping.  And when he gets excited about something . . . well he just does not stop talking about it.  So we finally agreed that the boys could spend a night in the tent in the backyard.  Except that, it’s been pretty cold.  And tonight – the night that was promised – it is raining and blustery.  So the tent is in the garage. The boys were . . .

This week at the OC Register, I’m talking relationships.  Specifically – what to do when bickering starts to take over your date night.  I’ve heard this happens.  To some people. I have a friend . . . *cough* Okay, this totally happens with us.  First of all, we are lucky when we even schedule a date night, and if they are two few and far between, inevitably the evening turns to tense conversations because it’s the first time we’ve been alone in a month and someone wants . . .

What I Want You to Know is a series of reader submissions.  It is an attempt to allow people to tell their personal stories, in the hopes of bringing greater compassion to the unique issues each of us face. If you would like to submit a story to this series, click here.  Today’s post is by Sarah DeNike of www.thewilltosee.com.   What I want you to know is that it is hard to have kids that are not quite “normal.” I am Sarah and have 2 beautiful little boys, Jackson age 6 and . . .

I’m preparing to lead a workshop at the upcoming Idea Camp, and one of the aspects of my research is looking into the idea of “orphan culture”.   Culture is a huge topic of discussion in adoption circles: cultural loss, cultural heritage, cultural identity . . . and when we talk about it, we are invariably referring to a child’s racial or ethnic background.  As prospective adoptive parents we spend considerable energy educating ourselves on bridging the culture gap.  But as . . .

We are still the Haus of SIck around here, so I’m gonna recycle a post from this time last year . . . drama (you give me fever) My kid (as most kids do) use some vocabulary that is uniquely their own. The funniest to me by far is the way Jafta refers to Karis's frequent spit-up as "drama". I have no idea how he picked this up, but he actually thinks this is the correct term for it. Of course I don't correct him, because it cracks me up. Nearly every day I hear him say "Uh-oh, . . .

Danielle Burkleo, author of the darling blog Take Heart, asked me to write a guest-post about our love story, and I thought it would be fun to post it for Valentine’s Day.  Here is the story of how we met and fell in love . . . I met Mark on my first day on campus at Cincinnati Christian University.  My parents had driven me up from Florida and that afternoon we said our tearful goodbyes.  I wanted my college experience to be an adventure and a fresh start, and so I went to . . .

Karis walked into the house today wearing a baseball helmet, holding a football, and asking Mark to play basketball.  I would say she takes after me in her confusion about sports, but let’s be honest: I wouldn’t even be asking to play. We’re all a little under the weather right now – I’ve been sick and in my pj’s all day and India thinks the “frog in my voice” is very funny.  I spent a rare weekend on the sofa with the remote in hand, being systematically disappointed by Portlandia . . .

What I Want You to Know is a series of reader submissions.  It is an attempt to allow people to tell their personal stories, in the hopes of bringing greater compassion to the unique issues each of us face. If you would like to submit a story to this series, click here.  Today’s post is from my friend Shannon. We started trying for our second baby when our son turned 1.  It had taken about 9 months to get pregnant with our him so we thought we should get started.  We . . .

Today was a "mommy and me" tea at the twins' preschool. In Kembe's class, there was a wall displaying the answers each child gave to the following question: If I had a million dollars, I would buy my mommy . . . Kembe decided he would spent a million dollars on flowers. A sweet thought . . . but we may have to have a little chat about the prudence of spending that much money on something that will die within the week. Four is a fine age to start discussing return on investment, . . .

It’s February, and I think I’m finally ready to share about my New Year’s resolutions.  Not because I’m just now doing them . . . oh no.  But because I have this awful personality flaw that makes it very difficult for me to announce the things I’m striving for, in case I don’t meet my goals.  I’m a “get-it-done” girl.  I don’t like to talk about things unless I have an action plan and an end in sight.  This can be problematic, especially since I am married to a guy whose . . .