This summer, my children have traveled across the country twice. From Virginia to Seattle and back again, and then from Virginia to Salt Lake, Salt Lake to Provo, Provo to Salt Lake, Salt Lake to McCall Idaho, McCall Idaho to Boise, Boise back to Virginia.

And with a few exceptions, they were troopers. Truly, they did great. We’ve come a long way, baby.

My sister-in-law and I swapped travel horror stories, like the one where she tried to breastfeed her twins in the car while her other two small children wrapped themselves around her legs, and she found herself spread eagle between the front and back seat with pretty much every limb encrusted with children. I recalled the time when Little Sister screamed the entire way home from Florida to Virginia because unbeknownst to me, she had a double ear infection. We didn’t make many friends on that flight. (more…)

We’re talking ’bout faith and country music, y’all. Come join us at Segullah.

1.  Gum, like toothpaste, should only be MINT flavored.  All things berry, watermelon, “changing flavors”, cheesecake?, are an abomination and should be destroyed.  I will make the occasional exception for cinnamon, ony because my mother likes it.  MINT, with the occasional cinnamon.  The end.  This is non-negotiable.

2. 5 a.m. is not a time of day that anyone should be awake doing anything.  Unless you have to work, (and I feel your pain) you should be asleep. This is also non-negotiable, and applies to anyone of any age, from newborn to elderly. (more…)

The Segullah retreat was this weekend. Oh my, I don’t think there is another gathering quite like this in the universe, and I’m pretty sure that there is no cooler group of women on the planet. We talked too much, ate too much, and slept too little, and I for one am all the better for it.

But a friend asked me, “What’s going on with Mormon Mommy Wars?”

What indeed. (more…)