For a long time, i felt like I couldn’t explain the concept of hope to my daughter. There are a lot of things in this world I want to — need to — talk to the kids in my home about, of course.  Things like kindness. Love. Patience. Confidence. Empathy. Bravery. Courage. The list could go on forever.  But the

Ah yes.  The first days of summer vacation — can you smell it?  That unmistakable scent of longing and anticipation and blissful freedom and abandoned lockers with lingering gym socks left behind to rot.  But let’s not get too excited about all the ice cream dates and zoo trips and hiking trails and bike paths and soccer games that loom

Every time I try to boil down what I’ve learned by being a foster mother, I start to feel overwhelmed.  There are so many layers to foster parenting, and just when you think you’ve discovered all the layers, still more layers present themselves.  It is nuanced, tricky, emotionally complicated, socially complicated. There are whole relationships you have to maintain, both

Dear Potty Training Mama, You’re ready. At least, you think you are. You’ve got your sticker chart, your dog-eared library copy of Oh Crap!: Potty Training, your sense of grit and firm resolution hardening your lips into a stern line.  A box of Franzia from CVS. You know nothing, Potty Training Mama.   You think you know of boredom, but

The rain, rain, rain Came down, down, down In rushing, rising riv’lets ‘Til the river crept out of its bed And crept right into piglet’s To say that this past Memorial Day weekend’s vacation with the kids (a longed-for trip after a year of layoff woe and contract work sans PTO benefits, among other laments) was…less of a lovely time

It wasn’t just a rainy night. It was a dingdang monsoon. And it wasn’t just any night. It was the one night I’d gotten a babysitter set up (aka, grandma and grandpa’s house for the kids to have a sleepover) and actually purchased tickets for an art festival show out of town, and my husband and I were going to

There comes a time in every mom’s life when she realizes she’s too old for something.  Maybe it’s a trip to American Eagle with a niece that triggers the feeling…that feeling that maybe you are no longer the intended audience for something.  For some people, this might bring on feelings of fear — fear of aging, fear of one’s own

Sometimes, I think back to friends who had children before me, and I realize looking back on all our interactions that oh, they must have been so much more exhausted than I was then.  Because now? Hello, now I’m a person who will literally fall asleep anywhere if given a chance. What IS it about parenting that is so exhausting?

At the beginning of 2018, I made the conscious note to myself that I would focus on building community this year.  For me, that specifically meant strengthening my ties with local foster parent friends like myself through regular get-togethers and, yes, the tried-and-true potluck method of sharing a meal.  While you are likely not a foster parent, this doesn’t mean

Okay, so maybe that title isn’t very generous.  It’s not that my daughter doesn’t want to do activities.  It’s that my daughter wants to do all activities with someone, never by herself, never solo, ever ever ever ever ever.  And I’m flattered! But I’ll be honest, sometimes, that’s really difficult as a parent. Let me liiiiiive! (This is hyperbole of