Author: Laura

  • Bad Little Girls Get Stung by Bees

    Bad Little Girls Get Stung by Bees

    I have already written about my daughter’s room. Basically it’s a mess. It’s a real mess. It’s kind of embarrassing how messy it is, and yet I have no idea how to clean it, so I don’t really know how to tell her to clean it. But periodically I issue various threats and edicts, and…

  • Practically Five

    Practically Five

    At the zoo, I quickly realized that my family was not going to fit into one car of the train. (File this under “big-family problems.”) After some scrambling, we sorted ourselves into two: Asher and my significant other and I sat in the front car, and Selah took Noah to the second car, where there…

  • Dear Children

    Dear children, It is evidently still a mystery to you how the world works, so I’m going to let you in on a secret: We do the same thing every day. It’s the way the world works. It’s the human condition. People have been bemoaning this since the dawn of time. That’s why the movie…

  • Three! Three? Three!

    Three! Three? Three!

    At the most recent Writers Who Wine gathering, one woman said, “Oh, I just LOVE three year olds! That’s the best age!” Wrinkling her nose, another woman asserted, “No. It’s the worst age. Three year olds are just awful!” Before I had kids, I would have agreed with woman one. After I’d had one and…

  • Great Expectations

    Great Expectations

    I think of myself as a reasonably good parent in general. I certainly have good intentions, though I hear the road to hell is paved with those or something. But every now and then I bump up against something that I still need to grow in, and parenting my “spirited” child forces me to recognize…

  • The Wrongest Mommy

    The Wrongest Mommy

    I recently had the pleasure of seeing my story, “The Wrongest Mommy,” published on Mamalode.com. Here it is!   The Wrongest Mommy  Eight-year-old Selah loves it when I retell stories of ridiculous things she did—or when I retell stories of ridiculous things I did. Perhaps her second-favorite story is about the day that I stormed…

  • No-No

    No-No

    I call my youngest son No-no. His name is Noah, so it’s short for Noah. But at this age, not quite three, it’s also no coincidence, really. No-no (also goes by No-ee) is really a very sweet baby. I say this about him at an age in which I would already have been calling my…

  • Raisin the Roof (Plus Giveaway!)

    Raisin the Roof (Plus Giveaway!)

    No, the title does not contain a typo. I did not forget the apostrophe in “raisin’,” as in “raising.” I went to a party for raisins, and I’m writing a sponsored post about it. And best of all, you might be able to get a prize out of it! Here, let me back up a little.…

  • But When Will She Dance?

    But When Will She Dance?

    My friend just had a baby. When I spotted them across the courtyard at church, I did what I tend to do when I see babies I know: I swooped in and asked if I could hold her. My friend was nice and indulged me in my desire for baby hugs. We were at the church’s…

  • Scientific Chart of Literacy Stages

    Scientific Chart of Literacy Stages

    An exciting thing is happening: my nearly five year old is learning to write! This is the second time I’ve had the privilege of watching the process unfold, and so you might call me a bit of a literacy “expert.” Thus I have developed standards to determine what stage of literacy your child is currently…