As we begin this blog series covering skills for managing life when it’s overwhelming, I want to start with the most important skill you can add to your toolbox. This skill increases the effectiveness of every other skill or tool for managing when life is overwhelming. It’s truly foundational to everything else […]
The sad truth is that at some point in life all of us are going to be blindsided by some form of grief and overwhelm. You might have a child who is struggling in potentially disastrous ways, you might have suddenly lost someone you love very much or perhaps a job you were counting on […]
It’s that time of year again. Here in the US, kids are getting out of school for the summer. My newsfeed is filled with summertime bucket list posts.
I’ll just say it: summertime can be hard and overwhelming.
I adore my children- all 12 of them (the 6 youngest are still living at home). […]
The screen door squeaked as I quietly slipped out back door from the kitchen of our old farmhouse, to the humid summer sunrise. I wiped tears from my eyes and tried to be quiet, hoping that my children would sleep just a few more minutes.
My Converses were already wet from the […]
As a single mom of a large family, and as a person learning to live with and manage Complex PTSD, I’ll admit that I’ve laughed at some recent articles I’ve read about “self-care.”
I continue to be drawn to articles on self-care though, hoping to find some elusive answer which doesn’t involve candle-lit […]
Heart pounding, I startle awake at 4 am. I am panic-stricken and consumed with terror.
My bedroom is quiet. There are no intruders, only my faithful furry friend Winston, slumbering quietly at my feet.
I wonder if I had screamed and scared any of my children.
For 5 minutes, then 10 minutes my heart continues to pound as […]
I see you. I know how terrified you are right now.
You are doing your best to act normally even though you have escape plans in place for tomorrow. Only your parents, who […]
When I was forced to flee my 27-year-long abusive marriage 4 1/2 years ago, I never could have guessed how difficult my path would be. There was no way for me to know how devastating the fallout from an abusive marriage could be, both for me, and for my children.
I am learning how to manage […]
A week ago I made the tough decision to pull of of IronMan Wisconsin. Many of my readers know that I’ve been training hard for this race for a year now. (An IronMan race is a 2.4 mi swim, 112 mi bike and a “little” 26.2 mi marathon run to finish it off)
And I […]
It’s still dark outside as I slip into the pool and begin swimming at 5 am.
There will be just enough time to swim, shower and drive home to be with my 6 school-aged children before they leave for school. It’s important to me that I’m available for them both before and after school […]