“Is Not This the Fast that I Have Chosen?”
Like most of you, I’m guessing, I haven’t always understood or relished the law of the fast. On Fast Sundays as a young girl I hated that hollow, gnawing feeling in my stomach and I passed the time in Sunday school fantasizing about my favorite treats—custard tarts, vanilla slices, lamingtons—always resolving to buy two of [...]
The Art of Story
On Monday, Jan. 23, 2012 at 7:45 a.m. the eyes and ears of many in the world of children’s literature will be on Dallas. That’s where and when the Association for Library Service to Children (a division of the American Library Association) [...]
Sunrise, Sunset or Where Did the Summer Go?
This morning my children will don their new school clothes and, toting new backpacks stuffed with sharpened pencils and blank notebooks, they’ll head out the door for the first day of school. And, just like that, summer vacation will be over. Like me, you may be wondering where the summer went. I always start summer [...]
Typical
Today’s guest post comes from Karin Brown. Karin is a stay-at-home mom to three girls and two boys, ages ten years to ten months, who consistently keep her on her toes. She is an active volunteer at her children’s elementary school and enjoys collecting re-tellings of fairy tales, specifically Cinderella and Beauty and the Beast. [...]
It’s Coming…
Friends, the Summer Break is almost upon us. Swimming pools, lazy mornings, popsicles, anytime cuddles, late breakfasts, and warm nights are just around the corner. And like an evil twin follows messy bedrooms, bored kids, days upon unscheduled days, and endless bickering. I am caught somewhere between counting down the minutes until we are free [...]
Mothers and Daughters
Today’s guest post comes from Amira, who has lived, worked, traveled, and studied around the Muslim world. Visiting the Great Mosque of Djenne or the Registan of Uzbekistan sounds much more enticing than seeing the Louvre or the Colosseum. Fortunately her husband agrees and they have happily lived together in the Middle East and Central Asia. [...]
State of Bliss
I’m feeling dizzy these days. My husband and I divide our time into seasons and spend winters and summers in Utah and springs and falls in Illinois. For the past three weeks, however, I’ve been in Boston. I just got back to Illinois last night and spent the morning at the temple for my Friday [...]
Parenting and Happiness
Twenty-one years ago I wrote the following in my daughter’s baby journal: “It’s a lovely morning—sunny, yet hazy in the hills with wisps of fog. The baby and I have had a pleasant morning playing downstairs. She squealed and rocked on her hands and knees as I played her Raffi tape. Then I fed her [...]
Pointers for Nana
I am expecting my first grandbaby, a girl. Her due date is April 2nd which also happens to be my daughter’s birthday. My daughter will get all sorts of tips and attention as a new mother. The baby will bask in the glow of gushing and cooing – heaven knows I’m providing my share already! [...]
A Simple Wish
I stumbled through the dining room this morning, bleary-eyed and hung-over on last night’s dose of cold medicine. My vision was cloudy, but I laughed as I passed the wooden box with the word “simplify” written decoratively across the front. It is overflowing with cords, spare chargers and every unclaimed accessory to random electronic gadgets [...]
So, What else do you “do”?
This if for my friend who recently wrote me an email about her discouragement. She has a three-year-old and a new baby. Someone asked her the other day, “So, what do you do besides keep 2 children alive?” They laughed a bit, but the girl waited for an answer and my friend stood there thinking, [...]
The Custodian of My Emotional Suitcase
Lisa Rumsey Harris teaches honors writing part-time at BYU. In 2006, she won the Heather Campbell Personal Essay Contest with her entry “Honor in the Ordinary.” She just completed her first novel, Watching Treasure Blume, all about a pear-shaped first-grade teacher with a family curse. Check out her world at www.treasureblume.com. My husband formally asked my [...]
The Housekeeper
I did something today that I never thought I’d do: I hired a housekeeper. I had recently accepted a freelance writing job, and on top of the part-time teaching job, care and keeping of two normal, healthy little boys, and one severely disabled older boy, things were getting left by the wayside. The pink mold [...]
The answer, I believe, is a resounding “NO!”
The Elders Rowley, Preston, England Early last Sunday morning I found myself sitting before our stake’s high council. Noticeably the only one dressed in a skirt, I was there to witness the reporting of two recently returned missionaries. One was my own son, just back from the England Manchester Mission; the other was a stranger [...]
a good giver of gifts
You read Melissa’s goodbye post? I did that yesterday– drove down to BYU with my oldest son and cried through the whole process of moving him into Heritage Halls, filling his kitchen shelves and coming home to a dinner table where his seat sat empty. And today I’m weary and overwhelmed with the work I [...]
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