Disagreements are a part of life. Even when we feel like we essentially share everything in common with someone, we ultimately still disagree on something. Sometimes, disagreements turn into frustration over the conflict, disgust with the opposing viewpoint, or apathy and avoidance if the difference feels insurmountable. Sometimes, disagreements provide an opportunity to listen, communicate, …
Author: theunexpectedeverafters
Wandering Thoughts of a Semi-Bored Mom
This past weekend, I played the game Hungry Hungry Hippos with my kids. This is the exceptionally straightforward game with four colorful hippos and a ton of marbles which create a lot of noise and chaos for about a minute while each player tries to gobble up marbles before the game comes to an anticlimactic …
My Break from Facebook
Facebook and I recently took a long break from each other. To clarify, I’m not a Facebook hater. I maintain the same account I opened over ten years ago when my alma mater joined the community. I used to enjoy posting updates and photos. It was exciting to see the number of “likes” increase and …
Be the Person You Want to Be: A Day In the Life of a Social Worker
I experienced a particularly tough day at work. I am a school social worker, so my job is full of ups and downs. But, this day was especially heavy on my heart. The day was full of minor frustrations, the kind that wouldn’t be too much on their own but together they compounded. Then an …
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Making a Difference through Love
We are fully immersed in the winter season here in Minnesota, complete with dangerous windchill that discourages outside exposure longer than five minutes. Through these frigid months, I’ve been searching for beauty. Something to bring joy in this cold reality. Somewhere in this search I started thinking about the similarities between weather and people. Specifically, …
Just Do the Best You Can – A Bad Day in Parenting
I had one of those days where nothing was going as planned. I had already shouted at the kids more times than I could count, and the tears from both of them seemed endless and unnecessary. I literally spent 15 minutes with a mini screwdriver and a light-up car trying to fix a piece of …
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Time to Be
Entering a new year offers a ceremonial opportunity to initiate change and establish new habits. Visions of goals and new routines fill our minds and planners and many of us will enthusiastically pursue our resolutions, at least for a time. In our pursuit to make our lives more healthy and balanced, while simultaneously less stressed, …
Living My Daydreams
Growing up, I used to daydream about starting over, particularly when I found myself in conflict with friends or wading through the messy drama of the teenage years. I would read fiction books that would transport me to different places and journal about what it might look like outside of the struggles that I was …
Refocusing on Joy
There are many things that I look forward to during the Christmas season: listening to Christmas music, anticipating family gatherings, admiring beautiful decorations, and inhaling delightful scents of the season. However, I also get caught up in all the busyness, stress, expectations, and to-dos that accompany this time of year. This holiday season can produce …
Resets – Life Lesson from a Toddler
It feels as if my life is on super-speed this season. Thanksgiving came and went, but in addition to the typical holiday excitement and stress, it also brought with it a good old-fashioned North Dakota snow storm. We had barely shoveled out of that when December came crashing in with work expectations, school expectations, social …
the unexpected ever afters 