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Lyla is old enough to get on the Phillie’s train but not quite old enough to understand that the train has stopped and we have disembarked until April 😭. Every morning, with her hat on her head and her sweatshirt dragging behind her, she asks, “We goin’ to the Phillies…

This week, I heard some lower school students singing a song. They sang, “In a world full of hate, be the light.” It is a lyric that always catches my voice while singing along and brings stinging tears. This week, it hits even harder. Sometimes, this world feels like a…

It is October. It is the month of pumpkins, corn mazes, orchards, and hay rides. It is late nights of bonfires and early morning sports games. It is the season of pop-up Halloween Spirit stores versus homemade costumes. One of my colleagues (a total crafter) still reminds me of the…

Bryan is away salmon fishing this week. On a typical day, my children sit beside him on the couch and call for my help 695 times an hour. This week, the only person on earth who can help them with anything is their father. The Wagner kids are emotional and…

It was first grade, and the school year was 2020-2021. The year was bizarre for kids, parents, and teachers. We started the year on Zoom, then moved to four days in person. Kids were masked, which masked facial expressions and social cues. Teachers worked hard to build relationships and connections…

She is up too early. Daddy left for a work trip before she woke up. She doesn’t like the way her socks feel. She doesn’t want to eat breakfast. She is so hungry. Her shirt is wrong. She wants to “phone-time” daddy. He is on the train. The reception is…

There are days that my four-year-old rolls out of the house in her PJs, in Halloween Costumes, in fancy party dresses, or with hair that honestly looks like it could nest a family of birds. She is living her best life, beating her own drum, and finding joy in every…

My kids have had a pretty stress-free and low-key summer. We didn’t take any crazy trips, they weren’t overbooked with camps, and they had minimum responsibilities (a small number of chores to do each day). They slept in, wore bathing suits all day, every day, and wore sunscreen perfume. It…

I have three very different readers in my house. A learned to decode quickly and has become a voracious reader of emotionally-fueled novels. N was slower to decode, but has always been a voracious consumer of knowledge. L is a reader-pleaser. She picks the books she feels her reader will…

Last week my family embarked on our annual Jersey Shore “vacation.” I use the word vacation loosely, as we are a family of five humans and one puppy. As I sat in my beach chair by the water, I had a realization that brought tears to my eyes. I sat…