A Secret to Success as a Working Mom: Turn Burn Out Into Bliss and Embrace Joy

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Last weekend my youngest was committed to going to the "Water Steps" a man-made water fall in Pittsburgh by the rivers. (Fun Fact: Three rivers converge in Pittsburgh--The Ohio River, The Monongahela River, and the Allegheny River.)  He kept asking. I knew he was serious when he said, "If you won't take me, I'll ask  daddy!" Given that it was highly unlikely that would happen on an unscheduled day, I relented. So, we went. It wasn’t planned in the way most things in my life are. No calendar block. No checklist. No “productive” purpose attached. And, so in some respects it was uncomfortable. And yet, it seemed necessary. It was the idea of my 8-year-old—offered with the kind of urgency only children possess when something is profoundly important to them.
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Thankful Thursday: My Family is Together

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Siblings enjoying a day together

  • Blessed are those who have their children to hug, kiss and cherish. 
  • Blessed are those who were born into a country where they can sleep well at night with the assurance that neither they nor their children will be gunned down in the street.
  • Blessed are those who have enough food, ample shelter, and sufficient clean water.



Those of us who were born into a life where we can take that for granted are beyond fortunate. I cannot imagine being forcibly separated from my children for any reason. Ever since I practiced extended breast feeding with my oldest child, I have been literally and figuratively connected to my kids.  I need them to breathe. And several times of day they cry out, "Mommy!" The baby simply cries and his desires are understood.

I write a lot about how things could be better in my life and they could. Still, each and every night, I go to sleep with the blessed assurance that my children are safe, well fed, and generally happy. I shall no longer take that for granted. And I will not judge mothers who sacrifice everything for the ability to be able to do the same. I will also not judge kids who have momentary lapses in judgment. And I won't excuse officers who are charged with protecting and serving, yet wind up killing 


Instead, I will reflect on what it means to be a mom and how we might influence our government to work to unite families instead of tearing them apart. Our president has passed an executive order that is intended to prevent family separation at the border. Let's hope that the implementing policies accomplish that task.



'He's all I have left': Immigrants crossing into US unaware, stunned by family separations

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