7 Things That Happened During Our Week Without Screens
For seven days, our family put down our devices (here's why we did this). William found a friend to keep up his Snap streak. Marilee and Penny turned off their…
Happy 15th Birthday, William!
Happy 15th Birthday, William! Henri Nouwen once wrote: Birthdays need to be celebrated. I think it is more important to celebrate a birthday than a successful exam, a promotion, or…
Emotional Lives of Teenagers
If you are a parent or educator of teenagers, The Emotional Lives of Teenagers: Raising Connected, Capable, and Compassionate Adolescents needs to be on your summer reading list. (If this…
July Introductions
Hi! For those of you who are new around here, I’m Amy Julia. This community grows almost daily, so here’s a short introduction. My husband, Peter, and I met in…
There Can Never Be Too Much Delight
Marilee and I were driving to soccer practice the other day (alternating between the Taylor Swift Eras Tour setlist and The Good Girl’s Guide to Murder audiobook), when she said,…
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What Would You Say to Your Teenage Self?
People ask me all the time what I would say to my teenage self. I was a hyper-driven achiever with a severe eating disorder that resulted in multiple hospitalizations and…
3 Things I’m (Still) Learning About Down Syndrome
Penny was on spring break last week. Our original hopes for a quick trip to Jamaica never materialized, but we did get to spend two nights with Penny’s friend Rachel…
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Addressing our Mental Health Crisis
I am kind of obsessed with Dr. Lisa Miller right now. I read her 2015 book, The Spiritual Child, a few months back. And then I raced through her more…
New Glasses: It Matters What I Think
Penny is getting new glasses, after 15 years of more or less the same ones. We’ve changed the prescription but not the frames, per her request. But she has recently…
Screen Time Check-In
So a few weeks ago, Peter texted our family chat and asked everyone to share a screenshot of their screen usage numbers for the previous week. Screen Time Check-In I’m…
