Tag: parenting
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Antonyms for Linear…
Healing is not linear. Every option available to the kid and to us as parents right now is a rotten option. Nothing makes sense and nothing is clear – actually nothing make sense and the only thing that is clear is our love for this child.
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Strange Symmetry and “Stepping Down”
April 5, 2022, 6 years deep into treatment for depression and an anxiety disorder, and just one month into a partial hospitalization program to treat a crisis point in their mental health; my eldest child was officially “stepped down” from the full day program to the afternoon program.
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Social Distancing Week 29+….We’re Living The Plot Of A Terrible Dystopian Novel
If this were an actual novel, I would have thrown it across the room in disgust several chapters back. But this is real life (real absurd life), so I’m stuck waiting for the next plot twist while trying to hold out hope for something redemptive to happen.
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Zero To Thirteen In A Heartbeat
Somehow in both the moments when I was watching and in the moments when I wasn’t watching, the little ball of wonder and energy who entered the world in a hurry morphed into a powerhouse young woman (who is still in a hurry!) Today she is 13. She is compassionate, curious, creative, physically strong, and…
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Our Invisible and Unwelcome Family Member
My son is living with anxiety and depression, but the entire family lives with the fallout caused by his anxiety and depression.
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Imperfect Christmas Wishes
My wish for you this holiday is to let go. Let go and find the space to rest, to love your people fully, and to find your own peace, joy, laughter and togetherness among the imperfection.
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How Much Can You Handle?
Sometimes there can be an odd sort of symmetry to life. Something happens in one part of life and then is unexpectedly mirrored back to you in a different part of life. We’ve experienced this recently with the exact words, “How much can you handle?” coming first from the man-child’s psychiatrist and then from my husband’s…
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Pardon My Language
A few days back I had an epiphany of sorts…. You guys – it’s flat out brutal around here. The man child is an absolute wreck. The girl child is alternately hiding from the chaos in the house and inserting herself right into the middle. My husband has traveled for work more in the past…
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Season of Survival – Thoughts From a Parent During Mental Health Month
Have you ever experienced something from the past through the fresh lens of the present? It could be a place, or a movie, or a book, or a song – something that holds a memory, but when you experience it with the perspective gained through more trips around the sun new meaning shines through. I…
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A Moment of Truth
A moment of truth. Parenting a teen with mental health challenges is exhausting and often isolating. And right now I am more tired than I ever even knew was possible. So a word of thanks for those who “hold my umbrella” for me when I need to rest my weary heart, body and mind. I…
We're All A Little Broken 