by Shannon Popkin | Jan 17, 2014 | Faith, Fear, Gifts, Humility, Kids' Perspective, Pain, Parenting, seasons, Teens
As a mom, one of the most painful things in life is to see my kids struggle through something that is humiliating. I alternate between wanting to fix my child and eradicate the struggle, and wanting to pummel anyone who would dare to snicker or poke fun at...
by Shannon Popkin | Jan 14, 2014 | Kids' Perspective
When Cade was about three, he had his neighbor friend over to play for the afternoon. While I was upstairs busily vacuuming and cleaning the kitchen, they were in the basement, quietly playing.Or so I thought.It wasn’t until I sat down to check my email that I...
by Shannon Popkin | Dec 23, 2013 | Family, Gifts, Holidays, Roles, Women
When Lindsay was five, I took her shopping and let her choose a Christmas gift for each family member. For Mamaw (my mom), she chose a figurine of a little girl. You can imagine how lovely it was, since it was from the Dollar Store.Mom, of course, gave Lindsay a big...
by Shannon Popkin | Dec 17, 2013 | Family
“Will she believe me–that I’ve done nothing wrong? As the wife of a priest, I’m sure she’s heard plenty of excuses…”As Mary rushed to see her cousin in the hill country, her mind was surely occupied with measuring out each of...
by Shannon Popkin | Dec 6, 2013 | Gifts, Holidays, Parenting
When I arrived at our elementary school’s Santa’s Secret Shop, my son had already been assigned to shop with another mom. So, I rushed over and said, “I’m here! Sorry I’m late…” After she handed him off to me, he confided,...
by Shannon Popkin | Dec 4, 2013 | Kids' Perspective, Parenting
A young mom recently told me about the day her three-year-old had been playing with his cousins. A report came to the moms that he had hit one of his cousins, so she called him to her side and said, “Honey, we don’t hit our cousins. We have to be...