Blog

Divorce has changed my view. Completely.  I used to believe that if one partner just tried really hard and took all the right steps, their spouse would respond, and the problems would be solved. I used to believe “it takes two.” Only I thought that meant it takes two to cause a divorce, now I … Continue reading When Blame Takes the Place of Support

Can you feel it? Heart racing. Pounding heavy in my chest. Deep breath in. I’m not getting any air. I begin to sweat. Close my eyes and hang on so I don’t pass out. Deep breath in. Tell myself to just get through. It’ll be over soon. Thoughts flow, uncontrollable. I just want it all … Continue reading Dealing with Anxiety; Special Needs Parenting, Divorce, and Other Hard Stuff

What a difference a decade can make. A decade ago if you had told me I’d be where I am today I would have laughed. Not me. Then life flowed, a miscarriage, a failed pre-adoptive placement, a divorce, two kids diagnosed with special needs, and I stopped laughing. A decade ago I thought I was … Continue reading In the Blink of a Decade {Perspective on Divorce, Special Needs Parenting, and Other Hard Stuff}

There is something about the mirror in my car. I’m guessing it’s the lighting, but holy smokes is it a truth teller. My bathroom lighting, not so much. I do all the plucking and covering up there, and then I hop in my car and suddenly a stray unibrow hair is staring me down. A … Continue reading My {Way Too Revealing} Car Mirror: What Makes Marriage Hard

It's the invites to join the "100 days of photographing summer with your kids" in my photog groups. It's the call for vacation bible school helpers. It's the flyers and the announcements for this summer camp and that summer sport. It's the "lets just get May over with so we can finally relax and enjoy … Continue reading When Summer Stings {Divorce and Help Dealing with Visits}

Can we talk about something super important? Like vital. After my last post on Autism Awareness (which, spoiler alert, was really just about empathy), a friend came to me wrestling with something. Someone was making her feel uncomfortable...like not appropriate uncomfortable...not just “I don’t how to handle this because I’ve never experienced it” uncomfortable but “I … Continue reading A Quick Chat About Boundaries {Divorce, Special Needs Parenting, and Other Hard Things}

I could not hold in the laughter this morning, watching my daughter try to reach something that was not exactly in her reach. She’s two years old and two feet tall and what she wanted was on top of the REFRIGERATOR. More than just a little out of her reach. The ridiculousness of it killed … Continue reading Autism Awareness… and All the Awareness-es

Target. Need I say more? I think it may be the only reason I've survived these years of staying home with littles. But one particular day of perusing the aisles stands out in my mind. I have no idea why I remember the details from that day so clearly but I remember walking down the … Continue reading The Secret Hiding in the Target Aisles (and Everywhere Else): Hidden Disabilities

Over the last few weeks I’ve read numerous articles, opinions, and comments with all sorts of theories about why we keep seeing these horrendous school shootings. It’s heartbreaking. It’s infurating. It’s unthinkable. We all want to solve it. We all want our children and their teachers to be safe. I don’t think there is any … Continue reading The Problem is Me

One of my favorite songs as a kid was this crazy song about a bear hunt, with all sorts of wild motions. It was my favorite. I performed it on video, in all my four year old glory. I'm pretty sure if I looked I could find a clip of my bossy preschool self belting … Continue reading When the Only Way is Through {Encouragement for Dealing with Divorce, Special Needs Parenting, and Other Hard Stuff}