Growing Up

Motherhood is tough, no doubt about it. As if there isn't enough to worry about with our kids, we also have to worry about hiding the Tide pods from our teenagers, and I recently found out that there’s a condom snorting challenge?! On top of school violence, and oh you know, just the regular everyday illnesses that can affect our kids, I am over it!! This motherhood thing is so darn hard. I'm amazed that moms are not wandering around in some Apocalypse Now daze. It's hard to believe that some people actually question why moms are on anti-anxiety medication. You need them even if you haven't been medically diagnosed ... it’s called survival!! I got pregnant for my oldest son...

“You raise your kids for the world.” My Paw-Paw first uttered these words of wisdom to my mom, and now she has passed them down to me as I navigate motherhood. As my children get older and face new experiences and obstacles, this seven-word phrase has taken on new meaning. I get it now. All I want to do is shield my children from any negative emotion or situation and prevent broken hearts, scraped knees, bad grades, or rejection. I can’t though, and I’m finally coming to terms with something else … maybe I shouldn’t. It seems my mom’s go-to statement of “one day, you’ll understand” is finally hitting home. “You raise your kids for the world.”   I turn to this quote...

I knew it would happen one day. My loving and kind little girls who ordinarily treat me like I hung the moon would look me in the eye and tell me something awful about myself. I just didn’t think it would happen so soon. I was going through the usual morning wardrobe negotiations, when one of my girls looked at me and said, “Mama, you’re fat.” My husband jumped in to protect my honor, while I stared in shock. I can usually laugh off the typical childish insults like “Mom, you’re stupid” or “I hate you, Mom,” because I know I’m not stupid and I know they love me. But this one cut to the bone, because it’s something I...

Dear Micah, I feel like you have anxiously been awaiting this day for months now, but your dad and I have looked at it teary-eyed. You see, we all grew up together. The past 13 years, I have learned what it is like to love someone so much it hurts. I have learned that parents don’t know everything, and we are trying our very best. I have learned that friends become family and help us parent you when we have our hands full. You are our motivation to “get it together” and to fight for a world where you will be loved and accepted. Something changes when you turn 13. You are all of a sudden older, wiser and stronger than...

In response to the recent walkout conducted by teenagers all over the US, people took to social media to express their opinions. This didn't surprise me. What did surprise me were the general themes of what I saw in the responses. The very same people who were voicing frustration just days before, following yet another school shooting, were also complaining about how this specific population chose to act on those frustrations. They saw the peaceful protest in commemoration of the fallen and the effort to generate a national conversation about gun violence as ineffective and an immature attempt to skip class.  I guess that's what they think kids are into these days. Teenagers are often decried as being obsessed with...