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Select a Month October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 February 2008

March 2018

March 19, 2018

Trafficking in Fear

I am chatting with a woman in a clothing store as our conversation moves from...

September 2017

September 18, 2017

Parenting by Politics

The moment is freeze-framed in my mind: My eldest, Milo, red-faced with anger, his eyes...

January 2017

January 31, 2017

The Casserole Dish Manifesto

By Tony Woodlief. I possessed a consummate ideology before I had children. It was a...

November 2016

November 01, 2016

Poison Ivy and the Path of Grief

Though its fruit should’ve been in season, too many harsh Midwest winters left the leaves...

October 2016

October 06, 2016

The Day My Daughter Found Herself

I want you to watch me run. My daughter Becca sent me that text last...

September 2016

September 28, 2016

The Crazy Sex Lady at the Solitary Banquet

"The crazy sex ladies are coming to school today," said my oldest. "We're missing it."...

September 14, 2016

What My Kid Knew about Kubo

[Spoiler alert: This post is about the end of the movie, Kubo and the Two...

September 07, 2016

I Have No Idea Where I’m Going

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see...

August 2016

August 03, 2016

Maybe the Kids Will Sleep in Tomorrow

The kids are home for the summer, but my husband has remained on the same...

June 2016

June 14, 2016

Fifty Shores of Grief

I write this the evening of June 12, 2016, the day forty-nine people died in the...

June 06, 2016

Who’s Your Daddy?

Adoptive parents develop radar for insensitive language and story lines pretty quickly. Wes Anderson’s simplistic...

November 2015

November 24, 2015

The Tyrannical Self-Gaze

I'm doing most of my walking after dark these days as night comes a little...

October 2015

October 20, 2015

The Beast Without

“Isaac’s being a jerk,” my seven year-old, Isaiah, says about his older brother. They have been...

September 2015

September 21, 2015

Let Me Die Like This

When I die, Lord, let me go in a plane crash, spiraling down, earthward, earthward,...

September 16, 2015

Not Your Mother’s Book Tour

In my world, a typical book signing involves sitting behind a small publisher’s table at...

September 11, 2015

Seeking Refuge

By Shannon Huffman Polson I’d just put my two young sons to bed when I...

June 2015

June 11, 2015

Prayers in the River

I stand hip-deep in a river, casting into the eddies. I am not the kind...

June 10, 2015

The Eucharist: Eat, Eat!

By Shannon Huffman Polson We sit in the back pew at church with intention; there’s...

May 2015

May 22, 2015

The Two Lists

Seven-year old Isaiah found a small desk in the back of our garage and claimed...

May 21, 2015

While My Pen Gently Weeps

My daughter Gracie was helping me prepare dinner one evening. We were doing the bœuf...

May 18, 2015

In the Marrow of Depression and Anxiety

By the time you read this, I’ll be feeling much better. Therapy will have commenced,...

May 15, 2015

Go Ahead and Have the Damn Children!

I was working from home a few days ago, on a day when both of...

May 06, 2015

My Rainbow Connection, Disconnected

By Chad Thomas Johnston It was a Saturday night and my wife, Becki, wanted to...

March 2015

March 18, 2015

Soft Hearts and Thin Skin

Recently I found myself engaged in another maddening conversation with my four-year old daughter. We...

March 11, 2015

“A Pair of Silk Stockings” and Other Frivolous Pleasures of Mothers

After a harrowing weekend of yelling at my children, I decided I needed to take...

February 2015

February 26, 2015

The Courage of Men

By Suzanne M. Wolfe Twenty one men dressed in orange jump-suits are kneeling in a...

February 20, 2015

Back to the Drawing Board

To say I can't draw myself out of a cardboard box is to assume I...

February 05, 2015

Cutting the Cord: An Observation from The Way of Saint James, Part 2

Continued from yesterday. The Way of Saint James—El Camino de Santiago—is a pilgrimage that began...

February 04, 2015

Cutting the Cord: An Observation from The Way of Saint James, Part 1

Sean was not an easy child to raise. My husband and I became his parents...

February 03, 2015

The Power of Twelve

You won’t want to do it, but I’ll ask just the same: imagine being twelve...