Michaela is my oldest daughter. After having 2 boys, I really wanted a daughter and somehow, I wound of with 3 of them (yes I do know how it works!) but Michaela started it all. And although this might sound like a strange thing to say about a not-quite-7-year-old, I admire Michaela a lot. She really is the most naturally positive, determined person I know. … Continue reading What Michaela is Teaching Me
Adam Saveage of Mythbusters famously likes to say, “I reject your reality and substitute my own!” Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work so well in real life. While it is true that there are many ways of looking at life, there are 3 basic facts of life which one must be reconciled to at some point: 1. Life is hard. 2. Life is not fair. 3. … Continue reading 3 Immutable Laws of Life
I started to do these “Best of the Week” posts a few weeks ago and it seems that my week is consistently 8 days long. Which I have no doubt that people who have to deal with me would agree is pretty much how I work! But hey – it’s my blog and it’s free! (Although you can make a donati0n to support the site … Continue reading Apparently My Week Has 8 Days In It
This past summer, I was showing a man and his son how to look for monarch butterfly caterpillars so the boy could bring one home to raise. I walked right up to the long grass to point out what milkweed looks like (the only food monarch caterpillars eat is the leaves of plants in the milkweed family). The dad came to a stop about 5 … Continue reading Looking in the tall grass
Since I am a contrarian at heart and everyone and their brother is doing the “Let’s talk about what we’re thankful for” bit, I’m going to offer up something completely different. Because as important as gratitude is, I also know that on Thanksgiving there are an awful lot of people for whom the answer to “what are you most grateful for?” is “that I don’t … Continue reading Thanksgiving Family Survival Guide
Once upon a time, a dastardly villian took a girl out to sea and left her there in the water, in the dark. She knew she was in a struggle for her life. Although it was night and she could see nothing, she couldn’t tolerate just waiting. So she took off swimming in the direction she thought land was. She swam though the night until … Continue reading On Treading Water
Getting to know yourself can be one of the biggest, most difficult jobs we will ever undertake. But you can’t properly love yourself – or even really like yourself! – if you don’t know who you are. If you don’t know who you are, how will you know what about yourself there is to love? Occassionally take some time to listen to yourself. Sit quietly … Continue reading Know Thine Self
According to infalible me! Ha! I’ve done more writing than reading this week, so this is a bit light, but here goes: How children’s play is being sneakily redefined. I totally agree with this from Alfie Kohn: 1. Play is being redefined to include things that are clearly not free, imaginative play. 2. Younger and older children ought to have the chance to play together. … Continue reading The best of the week . . .
So, one of the great philosophical debates has always been if the nature of man was good or if man is inherently evil. For reasons I have never fully understood, but which may be wrapped up in the joy that philosophers find in arguing with each other, the most obvious answer – both/and – is mostly ignored, although it does find its way into pop … Continue reading Original Sin Gets a Bad Rap
One of the primary purposes of creation is supposed to be to provide a testimony of who God is. It’s a shame that so many religious people fail to get that. But for anyone who cares to look, the details which emerge are amazing. They are amazing in their own right, but they are also amazing because these details are ones that God put in … Continue reading I Love Evolution! (A Christian’s Perspective)
The Upside Down World 