When I think about the birthday celebration goal in simple terms, it is the same as any other day–a smile on my child’s face and the assurance they feel loved and fed physically, emotionally and spiritually. That’s basic.

You never baked before becoming a mom. What makes people think you are going to start now?

Who am I when my kids don't need me?

I guess I’m shocked not by what she said, but by how badly I needed to hear it.

Hearts are a big deal at our house. We draw and paint them, collect rocks shaped like them, and now we eat them.

It’s not that I don’t like people. It’s just that when they talk to me, my body goes haywire.

No amount of Pinterest pins or garden remodels will make me a better gardener, but I’ll garden anyway, because the very act of gardening feeds me.

Each day, I write my kindergartener a simple, short note and put it in his lunch box.

My ten year old made dinner. I can do this. I can be the mother my children need in this moment, and the next.

Underneath these selfish and unrealistic wishes that skate across my mind is the knowledge that wishing alone won’t make it so.