by Shannon Popkin | Apr 18, 2013 | Anxiety, Fear, Funny, Kids' Perspective
Our dog, Diggory, does not like thunder storms. He cowers and hides and trembles, and looks up at me with these big, worried eyes.This morning, just before my daughter’s alarm went off, she heard a strange sound in the bathroom. Things were falling and banging...
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 | Jan 8, 2013 | Family, Kids' Perspective, Mistakes, Parenting
When I put Cade’s jeans into the washer, I noticed something. There was a unique c-shaped hole in the knee. It caught my eye because it was the same c-shaped hole that I had noticed yesterday.Could I have just washed these jeans yesterday? I called him in, to...
by Shannon Popkin | Dec 5, 2012 | Holidays, Jesus, Kids' Perspective, Wisdom
After my student played “Away in a Manger” for me on the piano, she asked, “What’s a manger?”I said, “Oh! It’s a feeding trough for animals. Remember how Mary and Joseph had to stay in a stable with animals, the night Jesus...
by Shannon Popkin | Nov 27, 2012 | Anxiety, Christian Growth, Holidays, Kids' Perspective, Mistakes
I decided to have my boys help me with the Christmas decorating this year. But maybe I should have started with something like the stockings or the tree skirt. Clearly, setting up my village was more than they… or I… could handle.After giving some light...