Every parent of every child may argue that any nap is a holy nap. And I wouldn’t disagree. I love napping children as much as anybody. But my kids are now 11 and almost eight, which means napping is largely a thing of the past. With one exception.
Almost every Sunday, shortly after the beginning of our church service, Isaac leans to one side, puts his his feet up on the pew, his head in one of our laps, and falls asleep. I’ve come to think of it as his holy nap.
Continue reading A Holy Nap
Life can be especially challenging for kids with anxiety. There are good resources out there, including this recent interview with Dr. Dawn Huebner, a psychologist and author who specializes in anxiety, and parenting strategies like Nurtured Heart Approach®, which aims to build a child’s Inner Wealth™.
If you’re looking for good, in-depth resources on childhood anxiety, check out the links above. “The Worry Song” is not that. (I told you I was committed to telling the truth.) This is more of a fun resource, a little ditty that popped into my strange, creative mind one day this past summer when my oldest, a kiddo with significant anxiety, kept getting stuck.
Continue reading For Kids with Anxiety: “The Worry Song”
If you have a child with special needs, a difficult baby, or an otherwise challenging child, and you are person of faith, chances are you’ve thought about faith and parenting. Because having a child who needs you more than most children need their parents takes a toll on every aspect of your life.
I can be tough on ministers, probably because I was one. Not for the span of an entire career, true. But long enough to bare the weight of it, to know the incredible privilege and responsibility of sharing in people’s lives in the highest of highs and lowest of lows.
Continue reading Faith and Parenting: Three Conversations
Parenting is HARD. With special needs, it’s EVEN HARDER. I want to bridge the gap. Tell the truth. Offer a fresh lens on this life we’re living. To reach families who are raising a child with special needs and those whose kids are perfectly typical, who wonder what it might be like and how they can offer support. Couldn’t we all benefit from sharing the emotional weight of parenting with honesty and vulnerability?
Continue reading Bridging the Gap: Parenting Typical Kids and those with Special Needs
This video of me reading Saturday Surprise, my first children’s storybook, was recorded in September of 2017. This was just days after Hurricane Harvey hit the gulf coast, causing massive flooding in the Greater Houston area. Along with many others, I recorded my book reading and posted it as part of the “Hurricane Harvey Book Club” so that children displaced from their homes could still enjoy story time. And now, I’m sharing it with you!
Continue reading Book Reading: Saturday Surprise, by Ann Bell Worley
