In the fall of 2014, Caleb, a bright blond-headed boy with inquisitive eyes and a great curiosity for learning, started kindergarten. He loved his teacher, made friends easily and was happy to go to school. Then Caleb began to come home with stories of how Joey was tormenting some of the kids on the playground.
Journaling is an amazing gift to give your children and yourself. It is a way to be candid and to wade through the junk. But it also allows you to hold on to memories; it puts a timeline to the hazy ones and brings back ones you’ve forgotten.
The remainder of the morning is a roller coaster, but I manage to keep calm and use phrases like, “When you leave your bike there, then I am not going to help you put it away.”
On November 2, 2009, two weeks after Noah was born, I was laid off from my job as the creative director of a living-history park in Utah. The day had started off like any other for two new parents—hectic.
have now sent three kids off to college, and each time it was time. They went and didn’t look back. That’s hard. But I know it’s right. My middle child recently noted how all my kids are great at heading off without looking back. “It’s what you want, right? You know you’ve done a good job, right?” Right.
Here’s the deal—I didn’t know my kids as well as I thought. The tomboy is now a happy stay-at-home with two little boys. She wears cute dresses, her long hair always looks great, and her nail polish isn’t chipped. I don’t mean to imply her put-togetherness is a result of tons of effort—she is just that way.
Even with the myriad of organizational apps, books, classes and articles available today, trying to lead an organized life can be a challenge. Throw in a child or two and it becomes nearly impossible to get a handle on it all. It has taken me much of the last five and a half years to figure out that mixing digital and paper is the best way for me to not lose my mind and plunge the household into utter chaos.
