In the third book of my middle grade series of fantasy fiction, I created a character named Gus who has two magical powers, and one of...

When our kids were little, one of their frequent requests was: “Daddy, tell us a story about a time you got hurt.” That may sound strange...

I’m not much of a daredevil. I’ll ride a few roller coasters in the summer and maybe glide on a sled once a year if we get enough snow,...

My older son was a horrible sleeper for his entire first year. He was remarkably pleasant when he was awake during the day, basically...

Last weekend, our youngest son’s soccer team played in a tournament in Gatlinburg. Back in August, when they first listed it among the...

Twenty years ago I had the shock of my life. After a year of unsuccessful attempts to have a baby, I had finally seen the coveted two...

I’m in the process of teaching our 15-year old son how to drive. Since this is the third kid for me to teach this particular lesson, I...

A few days before we took our twin daughters to different cities to move into their respective college dorm rooms, I found myself in a...

You inhale deeply as you approach the wooden archway. A voice from the speaker above you and to your right is midway through its...

Ezra, age 5, already 6 baby teeth gone! Our youngest son lost his last tooth today. There was little fanfare, just him showing me a giant-looking molar resting at the bottom of a plastic sandwich bag. It’s been loose for a few weeks, and he’s been asking everyone to stick their fingers in his mouth and test its wiggliness—a great idea in the middle of cold and flu season. When he joined our family at age 5, he had already lost six teeth, so the Tooth Fairy wasn’t really a bi

Like a lot of parents, I spend quite a bit of time driving to, sitting during and driving home from ball practice. I could try to figure...

When your first baby is actually a set of twins, you figure out pretty quickly that it’s going to be difficult to create one-on-one time with them. At least that was the case for us. We had our twin daughters first, followed by our older son three years later. Then our youngest son came to us nearly 11 years after big brother was born. I was able to have those moments with my boys—grocery shopping trips, bike rides, ordinary weekdays—while their older siblings were in school

On Saturday, I helped my husband dismantle the wooden play set our kids no longer use. When we first bought it, a dozen years ago, it was...

When Ezra, our African-born son, first came to America, he was 5-years old. In his first five years, he had developed an understanding of...

Parenting is hard. This is the eternal truth I was pondering as I rubbed the back of my ankle right after my older son slammed into it...

While vacationing in Florida and visiting a couple of amusement parks during Fall Break, I came to a realization: We parents need our own...

In a house with 4 kids who go to 3 different schools, weekday mornings can be hectic. Breakfast must be eaten. Backpacks must be packed....

As we were walking to school today, my youngest son Ezra closed his eyes and asked me to hold his hand while we made our way down the...

As I was listening to the radio recently, I heard some interesting facts about the planet Venus. I already knew a few things, like that...

I once read the phrase “hand-watered garden” in the book East of Eden, and now I think of it each time I water my plants. The author’s...