My little Oates Bird, You’re five years old now and you are so very serious about this new stage in life. Last night you insisted on doing your entire bath by yourself because “that’s what adults do.” In Encanto this is the day you’d step up to Casita to find out what your gift was. I feel like yours would be brutal honesty. You can’t help yourself. You call things like you see them and when something doesn’t follow the rules you’re not going to sit silently. This is definitely one of those almost Bruno-level gifts, and I really do pray it serves you more as gift than a curse but just remem ..read more

Sweet girl, You turned 4 this month. I chose this picture because it delights me and terrifies me. It delights me that you’re silly. I honestly wasn’t expecting the silliness. You were such a serious little baby. But I guess you read the room. Silly is always welcome in our home. It terrifies me because I know this face is the warning shot. Mad Wren is about to come out and we have approximately 3.6 seconds to prepare. Your favorite game, all day and every day, is being The Boss. “I’m the boss today!” you’ll shout at anyone that will listen. This has been fun. So much fun. You are so fear ..read more

Ever since I was a little kid I’ve felt like I didn’t ‘belong’ and that there were certain things and activities that were not meant for me. I remember being in kindergarten and there was a play kitchen area with dolls. Most of the little girls hung out and played in that area. But something whispered to me that I wasn’t allowed over there. That those things weren’t for me. Even certain books felt like they weren’t ‘for’ me. And I don’t mean that I didn’t see books that had little mixed girls in them. I just mean that there was a lie being whispered that books, like Shel Silverstein’s Where ..read more

Hi Sweet Girl, I took this picture of you doing my nails because the Holy Spirit reminded me that these days aren’t going to last forever. You won’t always want to do my nails. You won’t always cry for my undivided attention. You won’t always beg me to join you in acting out your delightful imagination. But today? Today I’m your best friend, favorite play mate, and your literal cup of tea (Seriously. You’re still nursing and when we point out that it must be soothing like the way grownups drink coffee you hold your hands up to the boob like they have a mug handle and I’m just like stahp.) And ..read more

If obeying God doesn’t make you wonder out loud while driving to work if He’s even real or not, you might need to come in a little deeper. I’m sure when Abraham was walking up the mountain with Isaac he was like, “Am I sure God is real?” I’m sure when Moses was practicing his elevator pitch before meeting with Pharaoh he was like, “Am I sure God is real?” I’m sure when Mary had to tell Joseph she was pregnant she was like, “Am I sure God is real?” And while Jesus didn’t question whether God was real, even He was like, “Could we go over the plan again? There is no other way to accomplish Our go ..read more

We just got back from Disney World, and I’m slowly posting about it on IG. We had a wonderful time and my parents really made a bunch of dreams come true and accidentally produced two new Disney freaks (you think I’m talking about Wren and Otis) (I’m talking about me and Melissa) (We have a problem, yall). Disney is a lot of work. There’s money and planning and lines and heat and whining. And when you take a kid like Otis? Where you aren’t sure how he’s going to receive all the magic? It’s a whole new level of stress and anxiety because you want him to get what every other kid gets when they ..read more

Did I ever blog about wanting to do stand up as my talent for the Mrs. Tennessee pageant that I said I would enter as part of my Esther Year? No? Lemme talk about it now. When I turned 35 I said it was my Esther Year. No, I don’t know what that means either. But basically the idea was that, like Esther from the Bible, I would enter a beauty pageant and save my people from certain genocide. There were many things that should have stopped this idea from coming out of my mouth. I was letting my gray hair out. I had not lost any baby weight from any babies. I was using Snapchat filters because I l ..read more

Y’all know that I’m a big fan of alternatives to the traditional classroom, especially for kids that really aren’t made for sitting still or performing developmentally inappropriate tasks or high stakes testing. I’m also a big fan of women. Like, such a big fan of women. In Nashville’s underground world of alternatives to traditional school women are such bosses. All over town there are women starting small communities of families that aren’t quite convinced that being kindergarten-ready is the most important thing for kids. Women that are pouring themselves into creating and running schools ..read more

NASHVILLE’S FUTURE CLASSROOMS: Many kids will not thrive in a traditional classroom so I wanted to highlight some alternative classrooms available to families in Nashville. It is so exciting to know that these options exist because of passionate women that saw a need and met a need [insert all the heart eye emojiis]. Elle Harvey is the founder and director of A New Leaf of Nashville. A New Leaf offers a variety of Reggio inspired programs including a preschool (2-5 years old), Triangle Play (1-5 years old), and summer camps (3-10 years old) at their location on Charlotte Pike.   1. How d ..read more

NASHVILLE’S FUTURE CLASSROOMS: Many kids will not thrive in a traditional classroom so I wanted to highlight some alternative classrooms available to families in Nashville. It is so exciting to know that these options exist because of passionate women that saw a need and met a need [insert all the heart emojiis]. Carrie Kinsley is the founder of Acton Academy Nashville. Acton Academy is a hybrid educational concept for kids ages 5-11 years old, located on Franklin Pike. Acton Academy Nashville blends Acton Academy principles, Growth Mindset, Montessori and other hands-on, self-directed models ..read more