Core Truths

As we begin to gear up for back to school, I am reminded of my number one rule for myself when I was a secondary English teacher. It was pretty much the reason I started in education, and it is what kept me going for the nearly 10 years I was in the classroom. It is how I started each school year, how I started each semester, and how I started each day. My main focus, my number one rule, my mantra if you would, was to help just one kid. In the fall when we would get our class rosters, I wouldn’t get overwhelmed by the fact I had 31 students in one class, I wouldn’t get upset that I had five different preps when I thought I would only have four, and I would try not to complain about whatever inconvenience may have popped up that I wasn’t expecting. Instead, I would start off by reminding myself, if I can help just one kid, if I can make a difference in the life of just one kid, if I can impact the outcome for just one kid, then this will all be worth it.  I would remind mys...

A few months ago my hubby and I realized that since we have had kids, we have thrown 54 kid birthday parties.  Yes, 54 parties. I would like to tell you we could remember them all, but that is not entirely true. We started recounting all of the parties; the places, the themes, the friends and family who were there. We started with our first born, made a list, remembered them all. Then we moved on to our second born, made a list, got stumped on a couple of them, then finally remembered them all. We got to our third born…and we were stuck. We couldn’t remember them all. There were a few years that were just a blur. We finally asked our daughter, who had just turned 13, if she could help us fill in some blanks, you know, from when she was about three until around age seven. Okay, maybe I deserve a “Worst Mom of the Year” award, but life sometimes just comes at you fast. At the time she was little, my husband and I had just relocated our family to a new town, we had both just ...

I have three words for you: take a vacation. Let me explain. My family and I, which is my husband and our five kids, just returned from a two-week long road trip where we drove from Texas to Niagara Falls and back again. It is by far our longest vacation, but by no means our first. We have been taking a vacation every year since we were first married, and it is probably one of the most important things we do each year. Taking a vacation has not always been easy, and at times, we have had to be very creative and flexible. Most of our vacations early on were to the beach. To me, this was the picture perfect idea for families. I had the notion I would lie out in the sun, I would listen to the waves crashing in the distance, while my sweet kids would play peacefully in the sand next to me. What really happened was my husband would be charged with lugging the ridiculous amount of food and equipment I had prepared. I would have a kid on the hip, another by the hand, and another ...

This post comes later than most and will be shorter than most.  It just so happens I am on vacation with my family.  I have chosen to take a break.  I have taken a break from emails, phone calls, and appointments.  I have taken a break from chores, from cooking, and from daily commitments.  I have chosen to focus on my husband, to focus on my kids, and to focus on myself.   We have had a full day…Mass in the morning, ice cream with the kids in a downtown ice cream shop, I took a nap on the beach while the kids played, I put my toes in the water during the cool afternoon, and we wrapped up our evening with a stroll and fireworks. My heart is full and I am exhausted. So now I am going to listen to my own advice and I am going to take a break from making a longer blog post. It is late.  The kids are up eating frozen waffles they have cooked in the microwave.  I am going to go join them! The truth is, taking a break is ...

This post comes straight to you from the front seat of our loaded down SUV. I am looking out at the hilly treetops of Kentucky. I am listening to the sounds coming from our children in the backseats. At this particular moment, it is as you’d expect:  “Mom, her hair is touching me! She keeps doing it!” “I’m not touching her!” “Keep your blanket on your side of the seat!” “Where are we going?” “How much longer until we get there?” “What are we doing tomorrow?” “Can you plug in my phone?” Sweet, sweet sounds coming from the children. But there’s more to this story. This road trip started taking shape months ago. Hubby and I decided where we wanted to go, when we would go, and we started making our arrangements. We booked places to stay, we planned out what we would do, and we figured out how we would get there. Yesterday, we spent a total of 15 hours driving before we made it to the hotel we had reserved back in March. We were confident when we left hom...

There are a lot of things in this world we could want. There are so many things to think about, to save up for, and to plan for just in case. We open savings accounts, we buy insurance policies. I think it is easy to get caught up in “I wish” or “I want.” I think it is easy to get caught up in too much social media and to find ourselves buried beneath perceived inadequacies. I think it is easy to feel like there is this made-up finish line that we can never quite reach. There are also times of want where we are ready to be relieved of great hardship, great suffering, or great confusion. There are times we feel we are so low that all we want is to regain who or what we once were. Times we feel alone, lost, forsaken, hopeless and what we want is to be comforted.  You know, it’s ironic, that we often find ourselves in the pursuit of happiness, when happiness was never something we were promised, or even something we were told we should expect. I am reminded of this by the...

My goodness! It is late, my house is incredibly loud, and I have quietly sneaked out of the ruckus and secluded myself into my bedroom to write. There is only one person in the house that got the heads up I was exiting from the chaos.  The one person that is now solely in charge of the kids, and the mess, and the bath time, and the cuddle time. The one person that most definitely does not usually get the appreciation he deserves. I typically write from the perspective of a mother’s heart. When I say, “I feel you, I know what you are going through,” I mean it. When I talk about dads, it’s different. I don’t know what it is like to be a dad. I can’t just pretend that because I know what it’s like to be a mom, that I automatically can feel things the same way a dad may feel things. So instead of saying, “I feel you,” instead, I will let you know, “I see you.” I see the dads. The selfless, hard-working, tired, fun, loving, strong, gentle dads. I remember the day my brand-n...