(Editor’s note: Please welcome Caitlin Douglass, who has some experience with long-distance family relationships and some strategies for staying close to relatives you don’t see as often as you’d like.) When you hear the words conference call, you most likely immediately think of a business call. You probably picture a bunch of people sitting around [...]

Growing up, I didn’t get along well with my brother. Two years younger than me, we were constantly competing for attention and the rivalry was pretty intense. Seriously intense. I hated him with passion, and it wasn’t until we were both out of the house and on our own that we made peace and became [...]

Even though no one here is officially an adolescent, Hubby and I are already seeing some of the emotional storms that are common to that age. I’ll be the first to say that I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing here…I think “winging it” is going to be the order of the decade. I [...]

I don’t know why this story popped into my head yesterday, but I really feel like sharing it so here goes. Back in high school I took singing lessons and participated in competitions called Solo and Ensemble. You had to prepare a musical piece or two, then go sing them to a judge who would [...]

Every week we go to the library and the younger boys pick out picture books for use at our daily story time. Right after I finish a story, Captain Earthquake will sigh a tiny sigh of contentedness. I wonder if he knows I’ve noticed it. Whenever any of the boys asks me for something and [...]

I was randomly watching a morning news program several months ago and saw an interview with Stephen Covey that fascinated me. He was talking about building relationships with children, and the specific point he made was to never break a promise. “No sweat,” I thought to myself. I don’t have a problem in this area. [...]