April 14, 2023
by Maralee
Comments Off on Self-Talk for Touched-Out Moms
I genuinely love being physically affectionate with my kids. . . until I don’t. I have eight kids and my oldest is 16. That’s a lot of years of dealing with kids when they are at their physically neediest and … Continue reading
February 8, 2023
by Maralee
Comments Off on Dear Marie Kondo- Welcome to the Mess of Motherhood
Dear Marie, I read a headline recently that I originally thought was a joke: Marie Kondo admits she has “kind of given up” on tidying up after having three kids. Hilarious. But there’s no way that could be real. As … Continue reading
February 1, 2023
by Maralee
Comments Off on The Picture that Changed How I Look at My Pictures
My son snapped this picture of me a few summers ago. When I look at it, I am immediately transported back to a moment in time. And that moment was not pleasant. We were on vacation in Colorado. Vacations with … Continue reading
November 30, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on Reading Through Luke in December: Before we Begin
A couple years ago I read a little wisdom that if you want to help keep Jesus at the center of your Christmas season, you should read through a chapter a day in Luke. There are 24 chapters, so you … Continue reading
November 2, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on I Don’t Need You to Lie to My Kid
I had an experience this last week that’s left me a little unsettled. I don’t like being unsettled. I took my daughter in for an appointment with a pediatric dentist. We typically all see the same dentist, but she had … Continue reading
October 20, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on When Your Parenting Rules Need to Bend
Yesterday morning I was listening to a great podcast interview with a very wise, very credentialed woman who was giving parenting advice. She was talking about the importance of resilience and how our kids need to face disappointment in order … Continue reading
August 25, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on Adoptive Families Need Adult Adoptees
This is an edit of something I originally wrote back in 2013 after an interaction with my mom’s cousin, Warren. I wanted to share it again (with some tweaks) because I heard from my mom last night that Warren passed … Continue reading
August 18, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on The “Forgotten” Baby Sibling in a Large Family
Today I was listening to a podcast I like when I heard something I didn’t like. They were talking about an amazing woman who has done so much good for her community, but they started it by saying she was … Continue reading
March 18, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on I Missed His First Track Meet
My beautiful boy is running in his first track meet today. I dropped him off and watched him walk across a high school parking lot to his waiting team. I gave him a hug before he got out of the … Continue reading
February 15, 2022
by Maralee
Comments Off on Hey Naomi Campbell, My Adopted Kids Are “My” Children
Dear Ms. Campbell, While the two of us couldn’t seem to have more vastly different lives (you’re a famous model and mom of one, I’m a mom of 8 who just finished eating a Valentine Ding Dong treat she pilfered … Continue reading