Category: Family and Faith

• Four Years Later

  

  Dear Kori Jane, Exactly four years ago this week, Leap Day 2020, in King County Washington, the first US death from Covid-19 was reported. The reality of what was unfolding in Seattle had not yet hit us down here in Houston. Hundreds of thousands of Houstonians were still gathering daily for the annual Houston Livestock…

  Laura Spaulding

  March 3, 2024

  Family and Faith, Parenting through Grief, Trauma, and Loss, Words to Kori Jane

  anxiety, beauty, cancer, childhood, Children, covid19, death, Faith, Family, grace, grandparents, Grief, growing up, healing, high school, joy, middle school, motherhood, mothers, natural disaster, Parenting, poems, poetry, teenagers, travel, truth

• Beautiful Crazy Love

  

  Dear Lacey, Do you remember the long-gone years of being strapped in a booster as I chauffeured your siblings all over town for hours a day? You didn’t complain much until you started getting physically sick every car ride, necessitating hospital-grade plastic receptacles be kept in the seat pocket in front of you. Boy, am…

  Laura Spaulding

  February 10, 2024

  Family and Faith, Words to Lacey

  Children, Faith, Family, friendship, grace, growing up, joy, love, marriage, middle school, motherhood, mothers, Parenting, siblings, valentines day

• Never Alone

  

  Dear Kori Jane, Last year, this mother of yours reluctantly agreed to an all-day bike ride through the mountains of Montana. As you are aware, I’m not exactly fit and I have no cycling experience. Our dear friend Devon, having traveled this road before, assured me the trail was mostly downhill, and the views would…

  Laura Spaulding

  November 1, 2023

  Family and Faith, Learning and Healing Through Nature and Creation, Parenting through Grief, Trauma, and Loss, Words to Kori Jane

  adult children, beauty, bicycling, Children, cycling, darkness, depression, Faith, Family, friendship, grace, Grief, growing, healing, joy, light, middle age, motherhood, mothers, nature, Parenting, strength, truth, tunnels

• More to the Story

  

  Dear Hallie, I can’t believe we’ve managed to keep you alive for 16 years. I believed I was a great mom until you were born, realizing I just had two somewhat predictable children before you – your older sister eager to impress and your older brother eager for peace. You were born the unpredictable third…

  Laura Spaulding

  July 10, 2023

  Family and Faith, Individualized Parenting and Education, Learning Differences and Disabilities, Parenting Teenagers, Unity in Diversity, Words to Hallie

  autism, Children, daughters, Education, Family, grace, high school, joy, mothers, Parenting, teenagers

• Seasons Always Change

  

  Dear Lacey, After entertaining the idea of moving last year, Dad and I decided to settle in and get you and your sister graduated before leaving our beloved home of 15 years. Then the first week of March, just after my sycamore tree finally sprang back to life, a house came on the market tempting…

  Laura Spaulding

  June 10, 2023

  Family and Faith, Individualized Parenting and Education, Learning and Healing Through Nature and Creation, Learning Differences and Disabilities, Parenting through Grief, Trauma, and Loss, Unity in Diversity, Words to Lacey

  anxiety, cancer, change, Children, death, Education, Faith, Family, flood, grace, Grief, healing, homeschool, hurricane, joy, moving, natural disaster, nature, Parenting, recovery, seasons, survival, teenagers, trees

• A Weary World Rejoices

  

  Dear Cade, Nothing about December 2022 has felt Christmassy. Maybe it was starting the month missing you and your sister as you finished your first semesters of college. Or maybe it’s Dad’s job demanding more of him than any of us like to spare. And then there was my bright idea to trade in rogue…

  Laura Spaulding

  December 27, 2022

  Family and Faith, GT and Twice Exceptional Kids, Individualized Parenting and Education, Parenting Teenagers, Parenting through Grief, Trauma, and Loss, Words to Cade

  bird, birds, Children, christmas, college, Faith, Family, grace, Grief, holidays, joy, Parenting, parrotlet, pets, son, teenagers, twice exceptional

• It’s Not That Deep

  

  Dear Hallie, Today is Mother’s Day and just like every other second Sunday in May for the last ten years, I find myself experiencing a tidal wave of grief mingled gladness. It’s difficult to believe I’ve survived ten Mother’s Days without my mom around to share in the joys and burdens of my own motherhood…

  Laura Spaulding

  May 8, 2022

  Family and Faith, Learning and Healing Through Nature and Creation, Parenting Teenagers, Parenting through Grief, Trauma, and Loss, Words to Hallie

  Faith, Family, gardening, grace, grandparents, Grief, high school, joy, mothers day, Parenting, teenagers

• The Things that Matter Most

  

  Dear Cade, You challenge me! You challenge me in ways all 16-year-olds challenge their mothers, but it’s so much more than that! You also challenge me in ways only an absent-minded professor challenges and confounds everyone they meet. While you miss obvious and practical realities staring you in the face, you’re more awake to the…

  Laura Spaulding

  March 20, 2022

  Family and Faith, GT and Twice Exceptional Kids, Individualized Parenting and Education, Learning Differences and Disabilities, Parenting Teenagers, Parenting through Grief, Trauma, and Loss, Unity in Diversity, Words to Cade

  Children, church, diversity, Education, Faith, Family, gifted and talented, grace, high school, joy, Parenting, siblings, teenagers, truth, twice exceptional, unity

• Grocery Stores and Dirty Floors

  

  Dear Kori Jane, In the two years between Daddy and I’s wedding day and you crashing our party, I used to love going to the grocery store. Perhaps because I’d lived with my own mom right up until that very moment, so the thrill of being in charge of filling a refrigerator and pantry with…

  Laura Spaulding

  June 5, 2021

  Family and Faith, Individualized Parenting and Education, Learning Differences and Disabilities, Parenting Teenagers, Parenting through Grief, Trauma, and Loss, Words to Kori Jane

  childhood, Children, creating, Education, Faith, Family, grace, graduation, growing, growth, high school, joy, Parenting, siblings, spiritual gifts, teenagers, writing

• Dinner Table Conversations

  

  Dear Lacey, The longer I am the mother of four children, the more I understand the science behind birth order theory. It’s fairly certain that you will always be the fun-loving, naturally charming, baby sister of the family. I am constantly wavering between guilt and thankfulness as I watch you grow up in the chaos…

  Laura Spaulding

  May 13, 2021

  Family and Faith, Parenting Teenagers, Unity in Diversity, Words to Lacey

  Children, conversation, dinner table, Faith, grace, healing, justice, learning, listening, Parenting, politics, teenagers, thankful, truth, tweens