Real Talk

When my sisters and I were young girls, my family watched the mini-series, The Thorn Birds, almost religiously every time it was broadcast on network television. We were raised in a strict Catholic home, as evidenced by our family of five female siblings. None of us ever questioned how this tale of a conflicted Catholic priest became family canon, or even why we were allowed to watch such a film in the first place, but in hindsight (particularly in the wake of a much more aware cultural and moral battleground) has led to many questions that I think are worthy of exploration. If you are unfamiliar with the 1983 mini-series based on Colleen McCollough's novel of the same name, a...

In 2022, we’re all aware of the need for self-care. Whether it be a corporate office pretending to give a crap by extending lunch breaks or a spouse that feels they exemplified selflessness by “letting” a mom shower in peace, there’s a lot of pretending out there when it comes to self-care. Self-care in Motherhood It shouldn’t even be such a buzzword in motherhood because the idea around self-care when you’re a mom is to simply take tiny bits of time to “recharge,” just to go back to motherhood. When will society accept moms are people, too? The thing is, while there’s a ton of support around taking care of yourself, even as a mom *gasp*, there’s a lot of judgment in the...

I've seen it time and time again - the woman scorned. Her husband: a no-good cheater who destroyed their picture-perfect life. This isn't that story. Instead, I was the no-good cheater, the one who would have been branded with that scarlet A. I met my husband when I was 18 years old - a child, one who had been sheltered for a long time before being essentially abandoned to raise myself. He was a gift. I found him when I was rebounding from a toxic non-relationship in the midst of dealing with my younger brother dying from cancer. He was sweet and pure and exactly what I needed at that moment. And once I found him, my whole world revolved...

7:42 a.m. Day 1 of summer break. My youngest, 11, comes up to me and lays in my lap as I am working. I already know what she is about to say because we have been here so many times before. "I'm boooooored," she moans. "I can't help you. You have plenty to do." She marches off, mad and mumbling to herself. I remember being that age and home during summer break. I spent my afternoons playing outside or with friends. I never told my mom that I was bored because she would just give me chores to do. I learned that lesson pretty quickly. My kids have also learned the same lesson. When my children were younger, I would plan out their summers. Bucket lists of...

If you need a filter to make something look perfect, social media is where it’s at. It can make you look however you want to look. Completely unrecognizable. On the other side of the coin, it removes the filters of societal norms. The things that should and should not be shared and by whom they should be shared. People lose their filter of all things appropriate. There is a time and a place for information to be shared and it should be shared by the person and/or a designated family member. For example… When someone has a baby:: When I was growing up, you found out that someone was in labor and going to the hospital through your house phone (yes,...