Big Kids

I miss summer vacation already! I miss the control I have over who I see and what I do, and I miss filling my days with family activities and carving out special time for the important people in my...

Can you imagine your child getting as excited about reading as a Ducks or Beavers fan gets about the Civil War football game? Believe it or not, students all over Oregon are motivated to this level of excitement through the annual...

On a recent non-school day nine neighborhood kids, ranging in age from 2-11, played in my living room, jumped on our trampoline, and asked me for snacks. The day before, it was eight kids (all different, except for my...

My kids may be twins, but they are night and day. Raising boys is fun but also kind of gross.  One kid is clingy, loves gamer videos, and refuses to wear pants unless we are going somewhere. His affinity for...

I never had any intention of being a marching band mom. And I certainly had no idea what it would entail once I became one. Unbelievably long days at competitions, freezing nights at football games, and nearly non-stop fundraising...

"I can't believe you failed me! I worked hard in this class and I deserve a passing grade." My student emailed me this message recently after she discovered her final grade at the end of the term. This student had...

I know she is growing up, but as I witnessed her pulling out the summer peppers and preparing for their forthcoming carving, I was both impressed and saddened that she didn't need my help. Still young, but the oldest...

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love pumpkin spice-flavored everything, fall leaves, warm sweaters, and most of all, sending my lovable knucklehead kids back to school. The prospect of having seven and a half hours without enduring the sibling...

It's easy to minimize the pain of our kids. In our attempts to try and help them move through their distress, we can inadvertently put our own experiences and stories on them, which not only turns the focus to...

Maybe you have been waiting for this moment. Maybe you have been dreading it. Either way, it’s go time. You smell the faint onion-y whiff of BO. You see the beginnings of boobs. Your dentist suggests a visit to the...