(Spoiler alert: at the bottom of this essay, you’ll find all the nitty gritty on our family’s actual screen time, bedtimes, chores, dinner rhythms, and more). I was talking to my mom the other day about my job and how it’s evolved (as I’ve evolved) over the years. We talked about how when I was a young mother, I was so very concerned with the tactical tasks of life: meal planning, laundry, housework… and of course, mommy guilt. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve gotten most of those things pretty dialed in. Now I’m focused on bigger picture things (that I didn’t really have time to worry about when my kids were small): how to protect my kids in a world that’s crazy sometimes, how to keep them safe on social media, if I’m getting enough one-on-one time with them to talk about their changing feelings and bodies. Bigger kids = bigger worries, I suppose. But one thing I’ve learned over the years is this: I can’t focus on those bigger picture things when the tactical things aren’t working properly. I just don’t have the space in my brain to worry about all of it.

We're not cooking. We're *assembling.*

We need to act now.

Why don’t you come up and see me some time 😘

I’ve put off writing this post for a few weeks, because I was in denial, but I think it’s finally official. Ruth is no longer our nanny. She’s still our dear friend and will always be part of our family, but she’s not showing up regularly to our home and no longer on the pay roll, obviously.

Last week we went on a spring break vacation to Mexico (I’m still there on Instagram) so I thought I would interrupt my dyslexia series to give you all a rundown of our trip, plus a bunch of other updates that never made it to social media. Well, at least not yet.

It starts in childhood, and it's dangerous for everyone. What can we do? Plus: Which disinfectant wipes work & are safe for kids?

On raising girls — and boys — to balance their own needs with everyone else's.

By Katie Blackburn

We couldn’t learn the cold, hard truth about kids and technology from Dr. Jean Twenge and not debrief with our favorite moms on the internet. So today, we’re chatting about our takeaways, action steps, and some of the habits we’re still working on. Not only does Katie offer insight into how technology can affect kids with neurodivergent symptoms, she also pulls the curtain back on the recent screen-time detox she implemented in her home (spoiler alert: it wasn’t easy 😅). Meanwhile, Ashlee’s raving about her new alarm clock (shoutout to Jean for the no-phones-in-bedrooms rule!) and contemplating starting a book club with local parents to collectively fight for change. We hope you hear heaps of humility and grace in this conversation, because the only thing we know for certain is that

(And bloody wish I’d known before)

This week we're whittling down one pieces, blankets to turn into tapestries and workout T-Shirts. Buy it now or Save it for Later!

A true story.

Fun finds from around the internet.

The ACBN returns with a travelogue in food form

The Friday Newsletter ponders going off the grid for eight or maybe even twelve hours

Gather round for an important update on peak season

A quick update

And why I'm finally done looking for approval

'When am I getting a baby brother or a baby sister?'

I’m very angry. I will probably cuss a lot in the newsletter. I’m going to talk about abuse and murder and misogyny and other horrible things. Skip it if you need to.

Personal updates, links, and recommendations.

I’ve hit the rage stage of sheltering in. I stomp around the neighborhood, my cheap, old scarf over my nose and mouth like some kind of demented outlaw from Forever 21, and think about how angry I am. I’m, first and foremost, angry that I live in a country that somehow elected such a wildly unfit, flawed human to be president. A man who has no clue about the limits of his own knowledge, and surrounds himself with other men who also appear to be

The last three evenings—Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday—I co-hosted a screening and discussion of The Week, described as a “climate change group experience.” The creators intentionally designed it to follow a U-shaped emotional arc, meaning the first night is the tough love truth about how bad the climate is now and how bad it could get, the second night answers the questions—

A parlor fantasy on a toilet lifestyle

A baseball-season break for my birthday and geting real about time

LFG Hi. Hello. Thank you for being here. What can you expect from this newsletter? Baby, this is my diary. Every Sunday, I am going to share about my divorce, co-parenting, mental health, and navigating relationships in this phase of life. Along with all the other usual suspects: music, celebrities, and fits of course.

“I think you’re a beautiful person on the outside, but inside you’re hideous.” “Likewise.” I replied instantly. I hadn’t ever really looked at it like that though. He put it so succinctly. Maybe I thought I was a bit less harsh because I used so many words to communicate the same idea. My mom loves to extol his conventional beauty. A lot of good that does me I’d remind her. It didn’t make him tender, it never coaxed him towards softness in his handling of me.

(even though we shouldn't need to)

Can you say Kafkaesque?

Petition to replace all our phones with Giant Jenga games

Plus: is social media ruining kids' social skills?

And none of them are chickpeas!

that my friend Maddie recreated after we ate a $32 wedge of charred cabbage at a fancy restaurant

My attempt to apologise, clarify and give some context to certain issues that have become very heightened....

Gender: A Wider Lens

Total depravity, original sin, & Calvin and Hobbes

and tips for when the Bible is silent

Kids Eat in Color is at it again

Visit us

And the problematic pram in the hallway

Celebrating Sant Jordi and waving goodbye to some stone-cold classics

The encoding of evangelicalism in Christian Girl Autumn, Joanna Gaines, and American Motherhood

Plus a farewell to our beloved cult!

Excited for the weekend, but not for Monday......

ASHEVILLE! - Are we over parenting? - One of my favorite episodes on pre-teens and teens + so much more

5 words that will bring you joy

"Effective parents are those who can remember what it was like to live in the scary world of those adolescent years and display the mercy that they once needed themselves as a teen." Paul Tripp

Last week marked the end of my syndicated newspaper column, one of the longest-running syndicated columns (of those written continuously by one person) in American newspaper history. Forty-four years. What began as an extension of a directorship I held at the Gastonia, North Carolina, community mental health center turned into a passion, then a mission, then a ministry.

I grew up in the 1950s and early 1960s, when America was sane. Politics, art, community affairs, education, sports, entertainment – you name it, things were sane. Not everything was as it should have been, which will always be the case in human affairs, but nearly everything made sense nearly all the time.