I remember taking my son to a playspace when he was just 18 months old and being absolutely aghast at the seven-year-old boy who kept leaping brazenly over him into the ball pit. I remember thinking "My son will never leap over a child like that." I was right. As my son grew into...

 I went to the dentist recently, and the next day I got one of those email surveys. You know, the kind where they want to know how happy you are with *insert random experience,* and then ask if you’d recommend this same experience to a friend.

And then it occurred to me…

What...

A love letter from me to you. And to your children...

I have been thinking about my eldest a lot recently. 

Truth be told, there are few days I am not thinking deeply about him.

Since his birth, he has wormed his way into the recesses of my soul. Since before his birth even.

I...

First you were you. 

Then you were a parent.

Same you...

But different:

1. sleep schedule

2. priorities

3. friends

4. sex/dating life

5. hip width

6. relationship to your in-laws

7. relationship to your own parents

8. frequency with which you lose your temper 

9. working memory capacity...

Today was Labor Day in the U.S.

And while all jobs everywhere deserve to be honored, perhaps none deserve to be recognized more than the job of parenting. 

It is the silent job that so many of us do in the background of our "real jobs." It's the one we don't get paid for, that has no...

A couple of years ago, a mom came to me, practically crying because she so badly wanted her kids to simply bring their cups to the sink. 

We had an amazing conversation about this that had absolutely nothing to do with the cups or the sink. 

I am going to take a guess...

Have you ever noticed that when you travel somewhere for the first time, the road can seem long and confusing, but then the second time it doesn't seem that way at all? That's because you have markers along the way. You know what to expect and you can gauge your needs accordingly. 

Well,...

SOME KIDS ARE GENUINELY HARDER.

Why is it so hard for us to admit that, both on a personal and societal level?

I think it is because we have confused "hard" with "bad."

These kids aren't bad. They're glorious. They're just not easy "do it because I said so" kids.

How do you know if you...

I saw this post from Adam Grant on Instagram this week and it made my heart happy:

It also reminded me of a school project I heard about once, where the 5th graders had to argue all sides of an argument between a nature conservancy and a logging company. They had to take turns...

My first child put me through a lot, but you should know, my first "child" was not human. 

He was a feral husky mix.

In the end, I gave that dog everything, and he gave me more. 

He gave me the gift of knowing that my love had the power to heal: him, me,...

It's no secret that parenting can be exhausting. 

All the caretaking. All the bicker-brokering. All the driving. 

But while all of those can be tiring, they are not what exhaust you. 

 Here is what actually exhausts you:

The worry - You lie awake at night wondering if you are...

I remember as a kid looking at my mom and thinking “Why is she hurting so much?” Then I grew up and found out. Grown-up life could be genuinely hard. I could love my kids massively and still sometimes hate parenting them.  

But now that it was my turn, I found I simply could...