chalk&slate

What is this obsession we have with these fat little fleshy plants?

A sunny afternoon at Quail Gardens found me with my camera.

I am humbled that these birds have a choice, and choose to sing in my yard.

Constant entertainment is a disservice to our children. Teaching a child to be still, even for a short while, is a great gift.

To no longer be awakened at the crack of dawn on Easter morning by two exuberant little children is both a good thing and a bad thing.

My son's basketball team is quickly proving themselves to be the worst in the league.

My future daughter-in-law is one lucky girl.

This day has finally come. My daughter has finally started school. The little voice in my head keeps saying, "You failed."

I have always been fascinated with how the mind works. I have also been curious about the concept of trauma stored at the cellular level.

My ten-year-old comes into the room and plunks on the bed. After a heavy sigh, he says, "My insides feel lonely."

As he often does, my ten-year-old son asked that I leave his light on low as he climbed into bed.

I sit and write this letter to my beautiful daughter on her last official day of homeschooling.

Dear Abby, Why do I spend time with people I hardly know, and let time pass without hailing those I love the most? Stymied in the Southwest

I remember asking my mother a question when I was still in awe of my new baby daughter, "Mom, did you love me as much as I love my baby?"

Every time my husband goes on work travel, he packs the kitchen elves. I keep telling him to leave them here when he travels.

There was a time when my children provided me with all sorts of humorous fodder to fold into a story that grandparents would find amusing.

I feel like a mother approaching Kindergarten with her firstborn. Only this time we stare down the barrel of junior high.

I used to be able to pick up the phone at any old time, dial, and speak. That privilege is no longer in my life.

Cycles are all around us, and as part of our everyday life as breathing. The cycle of homeschooling is not exempt from these natural laws.