by Shannon Popkin | Feb 25, 2013 | Humility, Pain, Parenting
I don’t feel good. I have a throbbing headache which is like the big bully who won’t leave, even when you throw Advil, Tylenol, and sinus medicine at him, one right after the other. My muscles ache and my neck is sore. I didn’t sleep well and every...
by Shannon Popkin | Feb 22, 2013 | God, Kids' Perspective, Leadership, Parenting, Wisdom
Once, when my son Cole was three, I talked to him about stranger-danger. I told him that there are strangers who drive through neighborhoods like ours, looking for little boys to steal. I said that even if someone offered him candy, he must always stay away from...
by Shannon Popkin | Feb 19, 2013 | Disagreement, Humility, Kids' Perspective, Parenting
When Lindsay was about two, we stopped at Cracker Barrel for dinner. We had been driving quite a while, and both Ken and I were cranky. After we were seated, we began to argue with each other about who-knows-what. We were in the middle of a move to a new city, so it...
by Shannon Popkin | Feb 13, 2013 | Discipline, Mistakes, Parenting
A repost from 2009. Cole thinks this story is very funny now. :)My family was all within earshot when Ken said, “Shannon, we’ve got to be consistent with disciplining Cade for talking back. Should he sit in the corner for five minutes?” After we...
by Shannon Popkin | Jan 31, 2013 | Hospitality, Leadership, Marriage, Sin
ddiSpoiler alert: You might want to read part 1 and part 2 before you read on… I was a bit like Cinderella before the ball, humming little songs and dancing dreamily about my kitchen–the same kitchen that would soon be expanding by the magic wand of extra...
by Shannon Popkin | Jan 25, 2013 | Humility, Leadership, Marriage, Sin
Five or six years ago, I began complaining about our kitchen to my husband. I said that it was too small. You could only fit a tiny round table in the eating area, and there wasn’t nearly enough room if we wanted to have a big group of people over for dinner....