One key factor in a positive foster parenting experience is an empathic employer. I am grateful every day for mine. In the four plus years my husband and I have been full-time foster parents, we worked through a whole host of challenges among the young people living in our home, including logistical, behavioral, emotional, medical, [...]
I live in a house full of artists and story tellers. It's an enviable place to be. We wrap up each day with a round of stories -- books first and then the awesome oral ones. We are currently making our way through a magic garden, where a Venus Fly Trap shares ground with a [...]
The question caught me off guard as I sprinted between midday errands, and I answered too quickly. “Knowing what you know now, would you still become a foster parent?” a friend asked. “No way!” I said. It wasn’t true. I knew this as soon as the words left my mouth. I knew it even more [...]
A handmade card I received with my chocolate chip pancakes set the tone for my mid-week, mid-ish decade, mid-century birthday. "Have a good ball of love," it read and, lucky me, I did. My ball of love grew like an April snowball in Wisconsin, shaped by pudgy fingers and delivered with joy. By the end [...]
I met a monster last week and he made me cringe a little. Huggy Wuggy, a character in a video game with the deceptively charming name of Poppy Playtime, has sharp rows of teeth and a creepy habit of roaming an abandoned toy factory and exacting revenge on his enemies. But, really, Huggy is just [...]