Tagparenting

2023 in reflection

2023 has been the year of “Less is more.” I decided in the summer that I wouldn’t be participating in anything additional and, in fact, our family would be making deep cuts to our activity schedule. It was hard because it meant less time with other families and risking feeling left out of fun things. I stepped out of a leadership position in a scouting organization that I had been in for three...

Why We Play Games – Connection

When I tell people that our family’s big hobby is collecting and playing board games, we get a few different reactions. Sometimes we get the blank stares followed by a comment such as “You mean, like Monopoly?” And then I get to watch their eyes either glaze over as I talk about the different types of games we enjoy, or I see their eyes light up as they realize that this world...

Survival and recovery

We survived the holidays. Lots of boundaries. Lots of intentional time together, including enjoying new games of coarse. Limiting outside activities, which meant lots of saying “no” to possibly fun activities so we could say “yes” to peace. Oh, and a new kitten. His name is Chase and he is the fuzzy, warm balm to my weary soul. He’s primarily Ms. A’s kitten, and she is doing a fabulous job...

when in doubt, shrink it

Mr. B has been struggling. Hard. We had two months of traveling and birthdays, which are major anxiety triggers for my intense child. Mr. B is diagnosed with level 1 Austism Spectrum Disorder, which is the new categorization of what used to be called Aspberger’s syndrome or “high-functioning” autism. His flavor of autism comes with lots of “scripts” that he runs in...

A letter to my eldest son on his birthday

My dearest son, Today you turn *gulp* 20 years old. This is an incredible thing in so many ways. First of all, it means that you, your dad, and myself are all in the same age decade for the next year and 3 months. That’s pretty unique. It also means that I officially get to turn more heads and raise more eyebrows when people ask about my kids and I can now officially say that I have a 20...

A letter to my son on his third birthday

My sweet Busy Boy, Yesterday we celebrated your third birthday. I am writing this letter the day after because I went to bed early on your birthday because I was really, really tired. It’s no surprise that your mommy was tired, because you fit your nickname well and are a very busy boy. You are so joyous an exuberant that I can get lost simply watching you play. I am so glad that God saw us...

And then you came.

It was winter. We were mourning over babies lost, and babies never had, And then, in a dream, God told me your name. He told me to get ready for you. And then the phone rang, and there was a baby who was very sick who needed a mommy and daddy who knew how to take care of sick babies. And then we said yes, because God had already told us you were coming. And then you came. And you were so tiny...

And so go my days

Note: I started this post June 25, and was interrupted by a call from our worker asking us to take an emergency placement of two girls, thus the interruption of time. 🙂 Also, things are even more intense and chaotic right now, but we are getting it figured out. I’ve been trying to figure out the best way to introduce you to Busy Boy as well as let you in to the complexity that is life in...

Twists, Turns, and New Starts: Part 2

As I said in the last post, we knew that God knew what He was doing, and that even if the sib placement didn’t work out, that He had a reason that He was preparing us. Finally, two weeks after we got the initial referral for the sibling group, our agency gave us a call to tell us that the variance for other family had been approved, so we would not be getting the 4-pack, but before she even...

TuiMama

Wife, mother, chauffeur, referee, teacher, chef, caretaker, etc...All unto Christ.

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