Blog — Lessons Learned from Parenthood

I inwardly giggle when my kids complain about the toughness of life, or when they take issue with the fact that sometimes I let things be hard. I giggle because they have no idea really of all the “hard” I spare them. I was thinking about it more tonight. How things are like that between me, and God. Sometimes I grumble and complain about the toughness of life, and I feel upset that God allows some things to be hard. I have no idea, really, about all the hardness He spares me from. Maybe the virus he flicked away at...

Anytime my kids don't like something that I’ve said, or something that is happening, or something that needs to happen — they ask me "why??!!" and demand an explanation.  Sometimes the answers are easy — Such as, you need to eat your vegetables to have a healthy body.  Other times, the answers are too complex.  In those times, when I can't answer their "why", I ask them to remember who I am.  That I care for them deeply, that I've never lied to them, that I've always kept my promises.  I ask for their trust in navigating the unknown, by...

On the day of Valentine's, it's fun to talk about love -- one of my favourite conversations to have with my kids is "what does love look like?" Depending on the day, they tell me it's pink hearts, or maybe unicorns, or sometimes they say that you can't "see" feelings so love is invisible. To me, in truth, you CAN see love, and it's not glittery or pink. Here's what it looks like: - it looks like making heart pancakes when I'd rather sleep - it looks like breathing deep and praying when I'd rather get mad - it looks...

It was the perfect storm of circumstances that can lead to toddler MegaTantrum -- parents, you know what I mean. Due to my poor planning my 2 year old ended up both Hungry and Tired. And she came unglued. She was too tired to eat and too hungry to sleep. Lost in her (very vocal and dramatic) misery, she kept refusing my offers of the 2 things that'd actually help her feel better ... food and rest. If you've been around toddlers much this probably sounds familiar. But I think it sounds familiar in other ways too -- how often,...

As I contemplate trying to teach my 4 year old how to ride a bike this summer (no small feat considering I am not particularly inspired to ride one myself), I started thinking back to bike lessons from my Dad about 30 years ago. I remember wobbling along on my training wheels, headed straight for a parked truck, and my Dad shouting behind me "Don't look at the truck!! Look at the road, where you want to go!" I still remember noticing my reflection in the chrome bumper a moment before impact. The subsequent goose egg might explain a few...