Coffee CubBuster

I know that Memorial Day signifies different emotions for different people. Some see it as a sweet reminder of those who have given their lives in battle. Others focus on the start of summer and smell of barbecue and long weekends. Still, many people no doubt have a palpable taste of loss and mourning the brothers who died alongside of them. I do not personally feel that true sense of mourning on Memorial Day, but that doesn't mean I do not appreciate those men and women who lay down their lives for my freedom and justice. I just can't empathize and appreciate the day as it deserves. But we all have an area of life that we can appreciate more thoroughly than others. In watching my baby Ro Ro grow, I have a deep understanding and thanksgiving for his natural ability to develop. Fun fact: all three of my children have been on feeding tubes at the beginning of their lives. However, sandwiched in between my natural developers grows a sweet boy that still holds a hole in his belly...

Letting someone help you isn't always easy, nor is it always helpful, but it's definitely essential, not only for you, but for them. In the same way that children must learn to take care of themselves through trial and error (even if their clean up work makes your clean up harder), likewise when you accept help, you may actually give someone joy in serving; they receive an opportunity to shine and grow their strengths in ways they wouldn't otherwise be able to do. I recently watched my friends two children for just over an hour, to give her a little break. While it wasn't a ton of help on paper, I definitely loved being able to be the one giving help rather than always receiving it. Plus, we you always try to do everything yourself, it is easy to get a big head. During our recent ten-day trip to Texas, I was constantly on call with my kids. Being on the road had its ups and downs, but by the last few days, I was starting to feel pretty good about my ability to travel ...

Not everyone is called mom, but everyone has a mom. Whether that mom is down the street, in heaven, adopted, a distant acquaintance, or your best friend, everyone was born of a woman, and thus Mother's Day is a holiday that is understood in some easy or hard way by all Americans. As I walk in these familiar, yet uniquely designed shoes of many women before me, I am struck by the difficulty of the Hallmark holiday. Some people ache to become pregnant mothers, while others ache to hear their mama's voice again. Your mom may be your ideal parent, or she may have been a huge disappointment, but someone helped keep you alive from infancy to adulthood, and that is whom you should thank this Sunday. I'm reading a sweet little book called Mom Enough  by some fellow sisters, and I greatly appreciate the idea that motherhood is not an extra hobby we take on because we are bored; nor is it an activity to enter so that we have some cute clothes to buy or cute pictures to post. I wal...

Teaching middle and high school students helped this aging coffee-drinker stay "hip with the times," but now that I rarely watch tv, mostly play with trains or trucks, and don't have a twitter account, I'm starting to lose my edge. When my younger step-sister labeled my oldest son's social disease FOMO, I thought she was speaking another language, but now I see that the "Fear Of Missing Out" syndrome has been created for the social media generation and also applies to my silly Silas. As observed by all, Silas Smith HATES to miss out on anything. He has begun to have serious panic attacks whenever he thinks SIMO (Silas is missing out) on anything! We are talking a simple diaper change, a trip to the grocery store, or a date with dad. SIMO like all social syndromes occurs when we want to be a part of everything, we don't want good times to occur without our presence. We see pictures (for others it's on social media) or hear stories (again on social...