Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can se

I believe we have two families. The first, we are born with. Or adopted into, if you like. This family is one we can’t escape, and one who forms us. We get our opinions, our reactions and our inclinations from them. This family is ours, no matter what. You don’t have to like them, but you do have to love them. They are ours to keep, like it or not. Our second family is the one we choose. This is our spouse and our friends. These people are often the ones we turn to

I am sitting on our porch, in a rare moment of silence. I am enjoying the lovely weather, our beautiful garden, and the sounds of the birds that come to visit (we have a group of plantain eaters that come to the yard; they have the most enjoyable call. The sunbirds are like little gems floating about). This is a audible and visual gift, this time outside, being still. It isn't that I have nothing to do; trust me, that is so not the case. I am deliberately gifting myself s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyVzjoj96vs How can you go wrong with Sesame Street together with Will.i.am? I love this song. My kids and I were having a conversation the other day about school and friends. I was really happy to hear my eldest tell me that he liked a particular thing, and his friends didn’t but he felt that it was important to know what he liked and it didn’t matter if it wasn’t the same. I felt like doing a victory dance. A bit premature, granted, but wi

The boys vs girls discussion could go on ad nauseam. Is one gender better/easier/more angst-filled? Is one smarter/faster/more grey-hair-inducing? I don’t know that much about raising girls, other than what I experienced growing up with two sisters. Raising boys, though, I’ve had some practice. What I have learned about parenting the different genders through practice and observation is that when young, boys and girls are very very different animals. Here’s what I’ve

I think maybe Santa Baby has more things on his mind rather than just filling up each house with a heap of toys. Or at least he should. When did Christmas become so focused on getting? We can’t let commercialism eat Christmas. Showing the next generation what’s really important – family, time with your loved ones, helping those who are in need, health and happiness – means making more of an effort than whipping out the ol’ plastic, but effort means something too. Christma

A legend: An old grandfather is trying to teach his grandson about life. His grandson has come to him with anger at a friend who he feels has done him wrong. The grandfather sympathizes, telling him that he too has felt a great hate for those who have taken much with no sorrow for what they have done. A grandfather continues, “Remember this: hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking a poison, and wish your enemy would die. This is a struggle e

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PCkvCPvDXk Oh, friends, I just gave you an ear worm, because you will not be able to get this song out of your head. More than the very catchy beat, the message Meghan Trainor is giving us is a good one. It’s not about what we see in magazine; that isn’t realistic. In fact, the models don’t even look like that, thanks to the crafty art of photoshop. It’s not about what we see in films; that isn’t realistic either. You can do a lot with l

Sometimes, it isn't about how much you do, or how great you are, or how amazing you cook. Sometimes, it isn't about your amazing craft abilities, or the perfect hairdo you make for yourself or for the kids. Sometimes, it isn't about your coloring abilities or how much time you read to your kids. Sometimes, it is about being good enough. And that's okay. You know what I am talking about. Oh, the effort it takes to be the perfect wife/mom/sister-in-law/daughter/neighbor/PT

Confession time: There are moments when my kids drive me bananas. Like certifiable, up-the-wall crazy. There are no three people more skilled at finding and pushing my buttons, except perhaps their dad. But then there are no four people who know me better, right? For that matter, there are also no four people whom I hold more dear. We as expats move a lot. We lug our stuff to and fro, packing and unpacking, settling and resettling. Perhaps military folks aside, I know n

You know that there are cat people and dog people, right? I’m not sure if this is really a statement about their personality so much as their preference for pet (or at least, that’s what I’ll claim to think. I deny saying otherwise). I am a dog person, although at the moment we have three cats. Whom I love dearly but am bothered by because they are so indifferent. And needy. But pretend to be otherwise, which is why it is probably so annoying. Dogs, on the other hand, ha