March 23, 2018 Dear Families, I remember teaching Maddy and Hunter to ride a bike. I hated every minute of it. I couldn't run fast enough to protect them. I quickly realized that "a best practice" for teaching a child to ride a bike is to use gravity. Starting off, headed downhill works best. I … Continue reading Don’t Teach Your Child to Ride a Bike

March 8, 2018 Dear Families, When Hunter turned 16, all the cliches of that milestone flooded my mind. I found myself transfixed. I found myself filled with anxiety.  I realized that essentially, my "parenting" days are done. Of course, Paul and I will continue to discipline poor choices and hold him accountable to the standards … Continue reading The Epic Growth of a Parent

March 1, 2018 Dear Families, “Do I have to keep these?” “I’m sorry, Hunter, these is an indefinite pronoun. To what are you referring?” “Can you please not give me a grammar lesson every five minutes? These, the trophies I got when I was little? They don’t mean anything.” Three years ago, I redid Hunter’s … Continue reading How Do You Define Success?

February 22, 2018 Dear Families, This past weekend, we purchased a car for Hunter.  I believe he would word it a bit differently.  An adverb like "finally" would likely precede the verb purchased if he were sharing the story. With this purchase came more parenting opportunities. Very exciting. It also provided further confirmation that we … Continue reading Stalled Out

February 1, 2018 Dear Families, Last week, I navigated the crowded halls of the middle school in the morning with 6 chairs in my hands. Three in each arm. I like to live on the edge. Rarely, do I receive help well. As I weaved in and out of clusters of students, I heard, "Guys, … Continue reading Rules of the Round Table

January 25, 2018 Dear Families, I write today with a grieved heart. I struggle to find my voice of late. The words fail "to pour from my pen with feverish fluidity" as they did for Ralphie when he described his passion for the Red Rider BB Gun. Over the weekend, I contemplated why. I reached … Continue reading The Real Tide Pod Challenge

January 18, 2018 Dear Families, I decided to revisit and modify a post from the past.  Have you ever spent time as a parent guiding your child, only to have them change course midstream? Have you ever imagined your child's path and future only to have them make an abrupt 180? At times, it breaks … Continue reading All I Ever Needed to Know I Learned from Baseball…Revisited

January 13, 2018 Dear Families, Well, I blew it! It’s not the first time. It won’t be the last time.  But I definitely dropped the ball. During the break, I decided to identify topics I wanted to cover in my Thursday Wire updates.  On my schedule, I identified that this week’s letter would address the … Continue reading Owning Ownership

December 14, 2017 Dear Families, Growing up presents all kinds of new opportunities. Good. Bad. Ugly. Our society offers all sorts of fun distractions in the process. Snapchat. Instagram. Twitter. Navigating the road of adolescents often proves to be as winding as the highways of the Colorado High Country. As parents, we find ourselves in … Continue reading Nutrition and the Teenage Brain

November 30, 2017 Dear Families, By now you know that my parenting journey contains all sorts of opportunity for growth as a person and as a parent. I wish that I could say that every decision I made resulted in a harmonious outcome.  Oh, how I wish that. My heart’s desire is to share my … Continue reading Things I Learned When I was a Parent of Middle Schoolers