I spend roughly eight hours a day with teenagers. Most days of the year. For ten years. As a high school teacher I have watched many young people grow and mature. The majority have been blessings, but some have been challenges. I have also endured the students that remained, dare I say it, immature. Over the years I have had some moments in which I saw young men, 17 and 18 years old, portray chauvinism, racism, superiority, and entitlement. Not my favorite days. But, on the other hand, I have taught some young men that I proudly have said, “I hope that one day my sons can be like him.”
Because of these experiences, I frequently consider what type of young men...
In The Secret Place, behind the row of azalea bushes next to the property line fence and under the shade of the magnolia tree, anything can happen. Stuffed animals, favorite babies, small blankets, and toy food have all made their way outside to The Secret place, carried there by tiny dirty hands. Today the owners of The Secret Place are on a rescue mission. They bravely come out from behind the azalea bushes to save animals from the "dangerous giant storm that is going around the world". Each time one leaves to attempt a rescue, they hug each other. As one runs off barefoot through the grass, the other yells, "Be careful sister!"
The owners have invited me to join...
Oh, the things we say before we have kids. We stroll past kids throwing tantrums or baby-sit our neighbor’s bratty children and say to ourselves, “When I have kids, I’ll never do ” So easy to say those things before we actually have a screaming child melting down in the grocery store or one who won’t sleep more than two hours in a row or who has a weird-looking number two diaper. Here are a few things that I swore I’d never do as a mom, before I had a child:
1. Let my child sleep in our bed
I haven’t totally gone off the deep end here, meaning that my husband and I don’t spend every night with our son...
When a child loses his parent, they are called an orphan. When a spouse loses her or his partner, they are called a widow or widower. When parents lose their child, there isn’t a word to describe them.
This month recognizes the loss so many parents experience across the United States and around the world. ~Ronald Reagan, 1988
This month marks awareness for Pregnancy and Infant Loss, with October 15th being the official day of remembrance. There are so many families that have the devastating experience of losing a child during pregnancy or after birth. Often times, the suffering is done in silence, but we want you to know that those precious lives {and you} are never forgotten.
However short their time here on...
Moms, we’re all guilty. Of putting ourselves last. Every day and all day long. It happens. It kind of comes with the territory, right? When we become moms, self-sacrifice stares us in the face stating, “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere for a while. So I suggest you put any sense of yourself aside.” How easily we sink in the quicksand that is self-sacrifice. And sure, with the rush of hormones and bodily changes, not to mention the emotional rollercoaster that is motherhood, we sometimes convince ourselves that giving all of ourselves to our children and families is a decision not to be compromised.
I’m not saying that self-sacrifice is entirely a bad thing either, for most of us...
Around Baton Rouge
How Can Visiting Your Local Library Help Solve Louisiana’s Litter Problem?
Disclosure :: This post is sponsored by Keep Louisiana Beautiful and the Louisiana Office of the Lt. Governor.
How Can Visiting Your Local Library Help...
