How to Live Your Life

If there's anything that I learned about my uncle, whether throughout my life or just from the days after his passing, is that he lived a great life.  I'd have to say that, out of the three mortal men I admire the most, my uncle is one of them, preceded only by my grandpa, my father, and my husband. My uncle lived his life to the fullest.  Whenever he had the chance to laugh, he did.  If anyone could shine a light into a dark situation, he could.  He was loud when he wanted to be but quiet when he…

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When Mommy Goes Away…

...the kids will play.  In this case, 5 of them.  Unless you count the pets--then there are 7.  I hate to imagine what my house looked like while I was gone, but I am told that it was cleaned up before I came home.  (And you should have seen how it looked when I got back!) I have the feeling that Cinderella fed her two youngest sisters junk food throughout the days I was gone.  I haven't asked if the kids had baths, but I'm not sure I want to know.  Rapunzel said she brushed her own hair.  I'm afraid…

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What of Death?

Today my uncle passed away following a journey with kidney cancer. It was a short journey. A difficult journey. A well-fought journey. Many will miss him. It's hard to understand death, especially in young people. When my grandmother passed away in 2008, it was difficult, yes, but she had fought for a great length of time with Alzheimer's. It would have hurt much more if it had been sudden. My uncle still had years to live. He has young grandchildren. He was active in his church, a pillar of the community, an asset to his workplace. It's hard to wrap…

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When Little Girls Cut Hair

So this weekend, Rapunzel had a friend over, and all was going well until I decided to order dinner. I walked away, the kids were supposed to clean up their mess and come downstairs.  5-10 minutes later, Tinkerbell comes downstairs with her hair chopped.  I mean chopped.  I was shocked, surprised, angry.  I didn't know what to say. Apparently Tinkerbell had decided she wanted her hair to look like Rapunzel's friend's.  So she told her to cut it and showed her where the scissors were.  They had to climb on top of the bathroom sink to get to the medicine cabinet…

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Discipline for the Young School-Aged Child

Since Rapunzel's been in kindergarten, she's had a bit of an attitude.  Age 4 was difficult, but 5 was okay until we got to the elementary school.  I feared that to be true before we sent her.  Rapunzel attended a Christian preschool, so her entry into the "real world" brought in a host of influences that I would have rather avoided. Nevertheless, we had to come up with a new discipline plan for this age.  I was not yet involved with Cinderella and Wendy when they were that age, and I never babysat long-term for any children between the ages…

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