by Abby Wahl Holidays can be joyous, a time of year we look forward to celebrating. They can also be difficult to navigate, filled with anxiety and certain people we come to dread. Over the years I have had to learn to deal with difficult people and situations. I have found that some people we love the most can love us the worst. Learning to navigate the holiday season takes a special measure of grace. Today I am sharing some … Read More
What do you need to homeschool successfully? Do you need Ticonderoga pencils and an iPad? Do you need lesson plans and activity guides? Do you need Morning Time binders and baskets of books? Well, ok, sure – you definitely need piles of books. But what’s at the heart of a “successful” homeschool? A peaceful and happy mother. Sarah Mackenzie has said it already, and that’s why we keep returning to Teaching from Rest as our homeschool-pep-talk book: Let’s break this … Read More
“Step away from the chocolate.” I understand needing to step back from things in life. The problem is that often what I should step away from isn’t what I’m supposed to step away from. After a rough day or a rough week, I start to think about the possibility of spending hours at a coffee shop alone with my laptop or a book. I think about taking a day trip all by myself. I’ve done both these things legitimately and … Read More
Entropy is real. We can clean and organize all day long, but we can’t clean and organize our way into a static, finally-done state. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Except that it isn’t bad news. God made a world that needed tending, even before the fall. It’s harder and comes with frustration now, but tending and keeping is one thing we were created for. It’s not a punishment. Tend, v. care for or look after; give one’s … Read More
I suppose I can’t say something about how I can’t believe the month is over – every month. I’m getting to that point in life, though, where the eye-roll clichés just seem like truths that need to be stated. We started out with a mild, warmish fall, but have now definitely hit the cold – but not cold enough for snow or ice. That’s something I am personally grateful for, even though my kids would love some snow. Talking into … Read More
This summer I was browsing through CiRCE’s writing program, The Lost Tools of Writing, as I built out my plan for my own lit and writing class. I don’t use the curriculum, but I did skim it for ideas. And, ideas, it turns out, are what it emphasizes (not surprising, if you know CiRCE). Ideas are the real tools of writing, more than grammar or outlining. Without ideas, there cannot be good nor clear writing. And the same is true … Read More
It’s hard to say. Does life slow down as we roll into the holidays because school is lighter or off and Christmas music is playing or is it more of a hubbub because of all the holiday extras? Whether it’s because now we have some more head space to think about just what our problems have been this school year or because with the holiday extras we realize our need for better organization, there’s no denying the phenomenon: January is … Read More
There were five of us- three wide-eyed girls and two moms- sisters-in-law bound by heart – waiting with bated breath. We were crowded together in the kitchen while the men- my dad, uncle, and older cousin, caught up over apple cider, crackers, and cheese in the living room. My fully Italian Aunt, her shiny black curls pulled back neatly, her apron tied and smoothed primly, was about to unmold the layered Thanksgiving jello. I don’t remember the first year. No, … Read More
We’re coming up on December, and it will seem inevitable: We must examine how the year went, how we’ve done, how far we’ve come. Most of us will be disappointed. I know I will be. I will see my list of goals, of things I had wanted to do in 2019, and they will not all be crossed off. Some (like weight loss, cough) will have seen no progress. I did not make these goals and then forget them, hoping … Read More
You said yes and now you regret it. If only there were a way to be able to filter requests for your time so that you didn’t feel guilty for saying no or feel overwhelmed because you said yes. Instead, we often teeter-totter our approach. A bout of overcommitment leads us to cut way back – perhaps cutting too much, not investing our time and energy but rather hoarding it. We don’t want to be spread too thin, but we … Read More