I spent the last weekend cleaning corners, dusting woodwork, organizing a billion tiny lego pieces, clearing countertops, hiding chotzkies in drawers, using my magic eraser on walls, and taking trips to the dump. I went room by room and left no stone unturned so that our house would be ready to sell. 

Having a clean house and having your house ready to show for sale aren’t the same thing. There’s constant effort behind maintaining this showtime look with six kids. While cleaning, I discovered that the youngest now knows how to twist off conditioner bottle tops and pour the contents onto rugs thirty minutes before a showing. Needless to say, it’s constant and exhausting to maintain the “show ready” look. 

These showings didn’t showcase our real life with all its messiness and dirt and chaos. Instead, the house became a picture of near perfection. 

This got me thinking about all the media images that are thrown at us constantly with...

Every kid’s soccer game has that sideline parent. My favorite at my son’s games is a dad I like to call Mr. Wonderful. He got that name because every time the boys score a goal or have a great play on the field, he shouts, “that was wonderful, WONDERFUL!” Don’t get me wrong, I like this guy. Who doesn’t like a parent who adds positivity to the game and cheers for your kid with loud wonderfuls?

This past weekend I happened to be next to be near Mr. Wonderful. I learned that not only does he have a phrase for the great plays, he also has one for the not so great plays. 

Ball gets passed to the other team by one of our players? “Unlucky!” shouts Mr. Wonderful. 

Ball brushes one of our player’s arms and a hand ball is called? “Unlucky” cries Mr. Wonderful. 

Shot on goal and the ball goes off the post. “Unlucky” sighs Mr. Wonderful. 

At first, I thought, what a nice way to reframe a...

Every morning during homeschool, our three year old likes to point at the cartoon face that best matches his mood. My $17 Amazon laminated poster purchase has been a fun way for us to talk about our feelings and how they change daily (or by the minute if we’re talking COVID parenting times). 

I checked the poster and “fat” wasn’t listed as a feeling...anxious, hopeful, sad, curious, even mischievous are all there, but no “fat” cartoon face. How many times have you said to yourself, “I just feel so fat today”? My guess is that during the pandemic, this “fat” feeling has come up more often and here’s why. 

Going through the pandemic has brought up a lot of intense emotions for many people. Fear, uncertainty and isolation to name a few. Instead of just sitting with and letting yourself experience these big feelings, which is uncomfortable for long periods of time, your brain tries to solve the discomfort...

I don't know about you, but the Spring sun has me feeling extra hopeful and wanting to spend more time outside. Our family loves to play pick-up soccer games so last weekend we headed to one of the local schools to kick the ball around. 

While the match was heating up on the field, our one year old was wanting to explore off the field. As she tottered around on the sidelines I overheard another family talking. 

A grandma who was (I assume) with her daughter and two granddaughters were in our daughter's wander zone. All four ladies enjoying the warm breeze with smiles on their faces. I noticed the youngest girl was off to the side enjoying a snack while her mom and sister kicked a soccer ball around. 

Suddenly, grandma turned to this sweet girl who was quietly enjoying her snack and half shouted, "What are you doing over there? I think you've had enough! Come back over here and sit with me." 

This little girl's body posture literally sank. She...

Sand squished through my toes and the sun warmed my body as my daughter, son and I watched a lizard slip through the boardwalk slats. The waves crashed ahead of us and the sun was dipping in the West while pink and blue were slowly seeping through the clouds.

Last week our family safely escaped for a week at the beach. There were a handful of other families where we stayed. One evening, a family with a mom and dad along with their two sons and a daughter (plus the daughter’s boyfriend) asked me to take a family photo.

“Of course! I know how hard it is to get a family picture on vacation!” I said thinking back to how many times I’ve spent surveying the crowd to see who might a) not run off with my phone and b) not crop off someone's head.

With our one year old on my hip and three year old by my feet, I snapped a few pictures of the crew. I handed the phone back and asked them to check and make sure they liked it.

The mom took one glance at...

"Well, obviously I'd be a 10 out of 10" my daughter said without hesitation. 

She declared this in response to a family conversation about social media. My husband was explaining to our girls about ad targeting, location monitoring and more which you can learn about in this startling documentary.

When she learned that the origins of social media were college guys passing around photos of girls and rating them, she was all, obvi I'm a 10 out 10 over here. 

She didn't pause to think about her hair, what she ate that day, how much she had exercised, what clothes she was wearing or how the latest filter on her iPhone made her look. 

She wasn't concerned with bettering herself in that moment by planning a post Thanksgiving detox or cleanse. She wasn't worried about compensating for any current or past actions around food. She wasn't worried about how she measured up under anyone else's microscope.

She felt no pressure to be anything other than...