I saw it in so many eyes, and it made me cringe. Pity. They pitied me, my husband, and our son. They pitied the life we had because it wasn’t normal or typical. They saw how our toddler struggled to (not) walk and (not) talk because of a genetic disorder. My sensitive, overly-raw mama heart,…
I don’t remember what I said, only that my words were cutting and filled with anger. My husband looked at me, stunned, confused, and hurt. He could have walked away; he could have retaliated, but he didn’t. Instead, he walked toward me and wrapped his arms around me. “Amy, this is not like you,” he…
When my husband, sons, and I came down with the winter barfing bug this year, there was just one thing on our mind: how to protect the one-year-old. While the nasty norovirus isn’t usually a big deal for older kids and adults, little ones dehydrate quickly. But here’s the thing: I struggle to ask for…
Despite never being one for exercise, my Papaw Delmer has always been on the move. He grew up on a family farm in Appalachia, walking the hills as he completed his chores. Farming helped feed his family. When Papaw hit retirement age, he stopped working at the factory and found more time to spend working…
I’m not sure how the tradition started. When my children were young, we did not co-sleep. I am not against co-sleeping; it just wasn’t something that happened in our family. My son was a super noisy baby (read: laughed out loud in his sleep) and my daughter was particularly independent. I didn’t want to sleep…
I can do anything for a season. This became my survival mantra during a particularly difficult season in 2016 after a 600-mile move from Pennsylvania to South Carolina, downsizing from a 2,000–square-foot house to a 1,200-square-foot condo, a change in vocation (and drastic cut in income) for my husband, and me leaving a job where…