‘Let me be a mountain of love and firm boundaries’

Rose and I are walking home, hand in hand, when she asks, “Does everything have a shadow?” Me: “Yes.” Rose: “Not pigment.” Me: “What?” Rose: “Pigm...

Playing is training for finding your passion as an adult

Five years ago, before a hunting trip, Dan unloaded a pile of found junk (from the annual trash clean-up) into the backyard, promising me uninterrupted coffee and newspaper time while the ki...

Weekly hike allows us to watch life unfold in present moment

Col and I are walking down the hard-packed trail, bits of spring pushing up through dry oak leaves. I am answering his two-part question. First: When were you embarrassed as a child? Second:...

Sometimes it’s good to get out in the desert and simply ‘be’

Getting to the desert was like a backwards game of Twister – untangling ourselves from work, homestead responsibilities, the comfort of warm beds and stocked fridges. There’s alw...

‘Peaceful parenting’ a practice worth deepening

We’re in the car, returning from celebrating the Jewish holiday, Purim, at Temple Har Shalom. We’ve had a fun night, including participating in the rowdy re-enactment of the Purim story and ...

Trust siblings to work out their own mysterious karma

Yesterday, outside: Col on skateboard, Rose on scooter, me performing the Winter Olympic event of soaking up the low-slung sun. Rose ditches her scooter and somehow finagles the first two la...

For daughter, information is like a wide, swirling storm

Rose and I are in an outdoor public restroom, trying to take care of business without pondering too deeply the dark, wet stain on the concrete floor. Rose is singing cheerily in an invented ...

Sometimes, being seen without judgment can be enough

They’re like weather systems, children’s emotions. The clouds move in with a sniffly hiccup, a lip-quivery frown, and soon escalate like a tornado ripping across the plains. Sometimes I want...

Children’s constant moving forward a lesson in impermanence

The most mystical part of parenting is this passage of time, the way children accumulate years to their very person, like geological layers. I’m always so blindsided: “What? Another birthday...

Despite all the worry, ultimately, everyone’s going to be OK

An intuitive doctor recently said to me, “I’m picking up a little stress. You’re taking care of others, worrying about their well-being. Does that sound right?” Later, I told my f...

Son helping with deer is a task that will feed him in many ways

There must be ways to tastefully photograph what an animal looks like after it’s dead but before it’s on your plate. This is what I was thinking as Dan instructed Col to hold the hoof away f...

The equation of growing up: Something lost, something gained

It’s possible that I’ve lost track of Col just a little. I want to take him to the Triangle park to test drive the new play equipment, and he wants to stay home, build fires and ...