Short-Winded Blog

Tag: disaster

  • Life Is Like a Random Red Sock in a Tree

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    by

    Laura
    in ,

    I am having a sad and disappointing few days. We’ve had a family loss and lost the house we wanted to a higher bidder, I’ve had some work stresses, frustrations, and minor disappointments, and my friends all keep having huge losses–and I finally just had a large pity party that I am probably way overdue for.…

  • Leon Row the Boat Ashore

    Leon Row the Boat Ashore

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    by

    Laura
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    It took me a while to write this down, but it’s feeling seasonal again, now that the forecast is for seven days of 986-degree heat. Last summer, Leon and I were facing the prospect of a rare weekend off. While the kids visited their grandparents, Leon and I got two full days to do whatever we wanted.…

  • Like Putty in My…Hair

    Like Putty in My…Hair

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    by

    Laura
    in , ,

    I drifted awake this morning, trying to decide if I should get up and hustle us to church or not. One of my kids loves going to church and asks if we can go more often whenever we’ve skipped. Another of my kids hates church, and I have to overcome a lot of unhappiness to…

  • Picture Day!

    Picture Day!

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    Laura
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    Recently, a small flyer came home in my child’s folder. It said, “Picture day is coming.”   I remarked to Leon, “I’ll bet most parents don’t read that as a warning.” But honestly, I know enough of you do. I vaguely remember picture day. They’d line us up, give us a small black comb. (Where…

  • The Many Faces of Meltdown, Part II

    The Many Faces of Meltdown, Part II

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    by

    Laura
    in ,

    Practically as soon as I posted my last collection of tantrum photos, I received a number of lovely new pieces. I hope you enjoy these and they help you feel more normal if you or your children sometimes look and feel like this.   Aren’t walks supposed to calm babies? Sometimes they don’t.    …

  • The Many Faces of Meltdown

    The Many Faces of Meltdown

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    by

    Laura
    in

    Inspired by this photo of my friend’s son at the grocery store I asked for courageous people to share photos of their kids having meltdowns for a short-winded collection. I am hoping that you will see beyond the fact that I am kind of laughing at childish rage, and feel comfort in the shared experience.…

  • Herding Cats

    Herding Cats

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    by

    Laura
    in , ,

    The other night, I had my three kids post in mind. I asked the children if they would like to eat dinner outdoors. I partly did this because the evening weather was beautiful. I mostly did this because it seemed way too hard to convince the three of them to come indoors and clean up…

  • Perfect [Bleep] Storm

    Perfect [Bleep] Storm

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    by

    Laura
    in , ,

    I grew up camping. Many of my favorite early memories involve sleeping in tents by some lake or river somewhere, with my parents, two siblings, and dog (see Go Home Lassie, You Are Drunk). In my mind, these trips were relaxing, easy peasy, simple. We’d eat sandwiches in the dust and swim in the [insert…

  • Working at Break-Tech Speed

    Working at Break-Tech Speed

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    by

    Laura
    in , ,

    We all know that technology can make life easier, but it can also make life horribly frustrating. Trying to navigate new updates, saving data, working around malfunctions for programs you depend on…it can all add up to a real digital headache. But for people who spend time around children, technology can also be a physical or financial…

  • The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

    The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

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    by

    Laura
    in

    So, it may come as no surprise that I hate my car, a minivan that I never really wanted. But it turns out that it knows this, and it has started to punish me. It started subtly–randomly setting off its own panic device when I was out with it in public, and occasionally short-circuiting its…