Belonging Begins With an Invitation
One of the most heartbreaking aspects of being a mother is watching our kids get excluded. I’ve seen it at times for all three of them, but exclusion happens most…
Discouraged and Stuck? Let’s Reimagine!
I have felt discouraged and stuck. If I looked back through my journals, I’d find similar feelings detailed over the years, but that statement isn’t mine. A parent of a…
Goal Setting: From A to B to Z
I used to hate setting goals for Penny. It felt like I was measuring her worth based on how quickly she achieved them. Now I see goal setting—for her and…
Why Rachel Handlin’s Art Exhibit Prompted Me to Change My Prepositions
Happy New Year! We’ve taken down our tree and put away the gnomes and nutcrackers. The kids are back at school. We reviewed the highlights of the past year as…
Patiently, Beautifully Wrapping Presents
Gift wrapping has never been an easy task for Penny. Typically, she’s been relegated to the background of the wrapping extravaganza in our household—handing over supplies to her siblings or…
Photo by Cloe Poisson
From Conditional Love to Unconditional Growth
I sometimes beat myself up as a parent. In all honesty, I also beat myself up as a human, but on the parenting front, I think about how I let…
Culture’s Good-Life Mirage
How do we decide who has a life worth living? I thought about this question as I listened to bioethicist Rosemarie Garland-Thomson, PhD, tell me about a group of friends.…
Love for the Yankees | Penny in Her Own Words
Every night, before she goes to bed, Penny walks into our bedroom for an evening ritual with Peter. No matter what time of year it is, they chant for their…
Penny’s First Year of College Three Weeks In
After three weeks of college, here’s how Penny thinks it’s going (scroll down for her video)! How was your first week of college?!? The first week of college was both…
Changing the Social Imagination (one photo at a time)
The images that I saw of people with Down syndrome when our daughter Penny was born 18 years ago were largely black and white, grainy, medical images. They shaped an…
