Body Shaming

“Love your children, celebrate their bodies; they are beautiful.” His words echo in my mind as our children struggle with body image and self-acceptance. Affirming

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Person First Language

Person first language recognizes the importance of putting a person before a disability or diagnosis. Using person-first language tells someone that they are more than their struggles. That they are, quite literally, a person first.

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Books I Love

I thought it might be fun to do something a little different this week. Since summertime can often mean more time to read for pleasure,

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Forced Migration of Families of Transgender Children

Migration is a concept Americans typically attribute to those outside of the United States. What happens when oppression comes from within our borders and forces our citizens to relocate? What about the forced migration of families of transgender children?

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LGBTQ+ Posts

Happy Pride Month!! In the last few weeks I have had had the amazing opportunity to meet new parents and organizations supporting our gender-diverse children.

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Two blastocytes following egg retrieval and before embryo transfer

My Abortion Story

This is my abortion story. When I was nine, I remember buying a gold pin shaped like tiny feet. Not truly understanding what they meant,

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Budget Busters

Today we are going to talk about budget busters. What they are and how to avoid them. Creating a budget is one thing, staying within

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J.K. Rowling, Always?

J.K. Rowling, Always was originally published on December 19, 2020, at magickindness.org J.K. Rowling Always. It is with a heavy heart that my whole world

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The Downside of Aldi

  By now I am sure you are thinking that there isn’t anything left to talk about in regards to shopping at Aldi. Well, I

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Photo of vegetables on a placemat

Favorite Aldi Finds

  Today we are going to talk about some of my favorite Aldi finds. Since cutting our income several years ago, I have been searching

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Conformity

Conformity. It is a Sunday morning. The only day of the week I sleep in. I wake up to the soft, tiny kiss of my

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Fundraiser For Schools

A fundraiser for schools. Whether it be selling cookies, butter braids, or wrapping paper, adults put upon children and families to bring money into schools.

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Drowning in The Enormity

“It all feels too big to solve. I don’t even know where to begin.” A twenty-something man stood before me at the tea station. His

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Intention

Intention. A loaded word isn’t it? A goal or a regret. I didn’t intend to hurt your feelings. Sounds like regret to me. I intend

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Conversations With Cadi

It is always a pleasure to share these pages with like-minded people. My dear friend, Cadi Jean, is a respected friend, educator, freelance writer, mother,

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Life After Cancer

Life after cancer. Cancer changes you. Cancer changes your family. We all have this illusion of control and cancer changes that too.  In my early

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May 2022 Be a Blessing

Creative, cathartic, candid, caffeinated, consistent, and courageous. In short, these are some of the ways I define my life in 2021. Above all, it was

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Elf On The Shelf

Tis the Season for Elf On The Shelf, Santa, and gifts. As a young mother, I did not get the memo on Elf On The

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Ring The Bell. Part 6

Redememption. It was finally my time to ring the bell. The best gift I received when I was diagnosed was from a fellow survivor and

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Looking Back, Post 5

Looking back on what was possibly one of the darkest periods of my life. I wrote my cancer series when I first decided to start

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The Interview, Part 4

It’s the interview that no one should be a part of. The date of my mammogram was November 5th.  The day of my biopsy was

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Dear Jan

Hi friends! Today I am going to introduce a new feature on the blog called “Dear Jan.” This blog was born out of the need

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Academic Expectations

Academic expectations. What do they mean for our children? As the summer days start to grow shorter, my mind is beginning to think about back

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Dyslexia and Memory Recall

It is a common misconception that Dyslexia can be defined by flipping letters like a mirror. In fact, Dyslexia is a complex rewiring of neural pathways that create brilliant, out of the box thinkers. It can also create anxiety in these highly intelligent people.

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Teachable Moments

I realize just how clueless I was about parenting when I was a young mother. What seems obvious and easy was nothing close to either.

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Bees & Speed Bumps

This year for my birthday I bought myself a beehive. After painstakingly scouring the internet I settled on a vendor on Etsy who makes beautiful

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An Essay

An essay. A seemingly harmless essay changed the course of my baby’s entire day. I brush the soft wisps of her long hair away from

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Holidays Of Exclusion

I recently spent some time talking with a friend on Mother’s Day. She shared the hurt that she feels being a childless woman on Mother’s

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Peaceful Drops of Rain

Water is a magnificent force of nature. It is still and gentle like a snowflake.  Calming, like a drop of rain. Peaceful.  On the other

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Disrupter

“Let’s conjure up, from the depth of our souls: The truest, most beautiful lives we can imagine. The truest, most beautiful families we can fathom.

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The Family You Choose

“Shawls … made for centuries universal and embracing, symbolic of an inclusive, unconditionally loving, God. They wrap, enfold, comfort, cover, give solace, mother, hug, shelter

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The Cup

It was a warm March day and I was on my back deck basking in the glorious sunshine. At least that is what I wished

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Nurse Phillip

I still remember it like it was yesterday. There he was, sitting behind the desk in the elementary school nurse’s office. Handmade art adorned his

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Swimming Against the Waves

I am swimming against the waves. Time is a precious and sought-after commodity when parenting. It’s so easy to remind other parents to take time

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The Mammogram

It has been seven years since my shocking diagnosis. Seven years since I faced the unimaginable. Breast cancer, or any cancer really, is a devastating

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Four Hours

Four hours.  Four hours of waiting, dialing for help, knocking on neighbors’ doors. There I sit, listening to the sounds of my youngest children barking

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Click

Click. The moment I realize how undone our world is becoming. Stunned. I hold the phone to my ear as she yells that it was

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Awakening

I am a Caucasian daughter of a catholic mother and episcopal father. My parents worked hard to build a good life. Warmth, safety, security. These were

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World Down Syndrome Day

Today I want to take a moment to highlight and celebrate World Down Syndrome Day. Isn’t it funny the things you remember in life? Particularly

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Elliot Page Is a Grown-Up

But a culture that infantilizes transmasculinity refuses to treat him like one. Elliot Page Reuters Marketplace — Cover Media French Online Report By… Elliot Page

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She Deserves To Play

She deserves to play. It is a fundamental right. I am the mother of a young girl who enjoys moving her body, is an amazing

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Mental Health Minute

It’s time for a mental health minute. What do you do when: Everything changes. Routines disrupted.  School closes.  Businesses board up.  Surgeries are canceled.  People

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Join Me

I couldn’t think of a better day to launch my blog than Zero Discrimination Day. According to the United Nations, this day is dedicated to

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