Picturepocket's Blog

Tag: parenting

  • Sweater Weather

    People talk about mental labor of running a household and I will give you a half-day example. In order to feed my children breakfast and make lunch and get them into the car for carpool, it helps to start with a clean kitchen that started the night before.  At eight last night, the kitchen was…

  • Focus on the Fear

    A staple of my childhood passed this week and wow, do I have a lot feelings about it. I remember Dr. James Dobson and Focus on the Family as an inescapable part of my childhood and young adult life. My parents read his books and listened to all of his broadcasts. They bought me his…

  • Children’s Stories

    Something fun to do in Oregon is to visit the Enchanted Forest outside of Salem. Built into a wooded mountain side, kids can interact with various Grimm fairy tales before their Disney glow-up. I went as a kid and I’ve taken my daughters several times as well. They have a cute Humpty Dumpty, scenes from…

  • On Being a Girly Girl

    I just finished reading Joel Stein’s book Man Made.* Three things lead me to read his book; 1. The cover was fun and colorful and despite a famous saying about not judging books by their cover, I am afraid I do. 2. He is one of my favorite magazine authors, so whenever I am stuck…

  • Who Not to Friend 

    These days my young daughters are navigating the turns and twists of friendships and I try to give them good advice and also demonstrate what it is to be a good friend.  There are pitfalls to finding good friends. My kids know to avoid bullies, but there are subtle indicators of false friends too. The…

  • Bringing Home the Bacon

    A few weeks back, Tim and I had a disastrous day. It started out normal enough, Tim went to work and I got the kids off to school. With the house empty, I then settled into my work-from-home routine. I login and listen to the morning training Zoom call on my phone while walking the…

  • The Dad Hole

    A few weeks ago, I was describing the feeling of losing my father, and I explained that it was like having a hole punched out of the middle of my chest. I know that sounds dramatic, and I also know that anyone who has been through similar situation feels exactly the same way.  Having a…

  • Work from Home Chicken Enchiladas 

    Ingredients:  2 lbs frozen boneless, skinless chicken thighs 1 package corn tortillas 1/2 bag of shedded cheese Can of enchilada sauce Taco seasoning Directions: 4:00 Arrive at home from school carpool pickup 4:15 Dust 2 lbs of frozen chicken thighs with taco seasoning and place in Instant Pot over two cups of water. Set for…

  • The Insignificant Other

    Every day I make appointments with people to go over their life insurance. When I schedule the appointment, I go out of my way to ensure that they include their significant other in the conversation. The main reason is that most people won’t make important decisions without their person, so having them on the call…

  • Old Year, New Me

    This year has a few leftover days, so I am going to use them to catch up on all the reflecting I’ve been putting off. To be honest this year was a mixed bag. We got hit a couple of financial and social setbacks in the spring. Both relationships and circumstances left us feeling in…