Coffee CubBuster

The funny  Allstate insurance commercials that personify Mayhem are only funny because if you're watching them, you aren't currently experiencing them. Rarely does laughter ensue in the midst of our  mishaps, but a great way to distance yourself from past pandemonium is to move towards amusement. Have you ever been so tired, so fed up, so beyond words that chuckling involuntarily escapes your mouth? It seems out of place, but it's a great gift from God. No one on earth is exempt from mayhem or defeat (as Allstate would agree). No matter how positive or optimistic a person, it's inevitable that hard times will surface in his/her life. Then, there are those times that you think should end happily, or seasons where you feel you're due for some reprieve, yet more of the same hard continues. If I don't get one good night's sleep... If I have to hear one more scream... If I am slighted by one more person... If I am not acknowledged for another task at the ...

I am beginning to feel the same naive excitement you feel after climbing the starting hill of a roller coaster, realizing you have zero control of your physical safety. You basically accept your limited knowledge of gravity and kinetic energy while throwing caution to the wind and lifting both hands in blissful ignorance. There is a trust in an unseen engineer and a hope of a joyful thrill ride. Young males have a greater chance of injury because they are predisposed to high risk behavior. When I worked at a brain and spinal cord injury hospital, these statistics became reality. Boys have an initial confidence in everything, providing them with a platform to jump before thinking. Now this isn't a universal truth, but I see the same hubristic attitude in my firstborn son, which finally illuminated my antithetical reflection. In other words, I have grown in experience, and my experience has led me to realize I know nothing . For starters, I had no idea my  LinkedIn  profile...

In many regards, Levi Joseph Smith handles life completely opposite from his peers. The avenues that are most difficult for raising children are a walk in the park with little Levi, but all aspects of childhood that should be relatively textbook, throw him (and us) into a whole new novel written in another language. For example, most children have difficulty learning to share, but Levi rarely says no to a request for his assumed toy or trinket. Most children hesitate when asked try new foods, but Levi never turns down a new bite even if it's snails, squid, or spicy tuna. Most children give value to some type of security item, but Levi has never found comfort in anything, no blanket, pacifier, stuffed toy, or prized possession. Most children would wake up when stripped of blankets, covers, and quiet, but Levi stays sound asleep until the opposite. Pull his blanket up, and his motor sensors will spark alertness and anger. Most children prefer sitting when using the bathroom for ...

Some days we seamlessly sail from one task to the next making our jobs look like well-crafted premeditated cheat sheets. Other days we bump our heads, drop the ball, and resemble those "Ninja Warriors" who fall on the first obstacle, leaving the observers wondering how we got on the show from the start. Yet there are also those rare times when the ebb and flow of life doesn't rattle us at all. We are not sailing, nor are we sinking; there are both pebbles and boulders hitting at various points, but because of our steady rudder, we are not thrown off course even if our surroundings look chaotic. These moments occur when we've lost our sense of time. Regardless of your profession, every day lends itself to a list of priorities. Some days you arrive at work (usually Mondays) and there is a barrage of needs that all seem to hold equal importance. When they come at you simultaneously, a sense of inadequacy drowns your best intentions. This scenario happens regularly in m...

The first "signs" I teach my babies for communication purposes is "more" and "all done." They are easy and effective. Unfortunately, they seem to get the "more" first, which ensues a love of excess. Some people enter into a slight depression when the holidays end due to their love of all things extra-ordinary. As a child, I thought like a child, and I was one of those people. Now, though, I have left some  of my childish ways behind me, and I am equally excited to enter and exit the yuletide season. Because of circumstances beyond our control, our children (like many in our generation) experience not one, not two, but five Christmases, including our own. By the fifth Christmas this year, my eldest son embarrassingly exclaimed, "That's it!?" After a serious discussion and apology on his behalf, I began to realize that his desire for more wasn't completely his fault. We have given him the erroneous impression that Christmas, b...