Author: Joy Shantz

a season ends, a season begins

This has been a beautiful, fun, silly, and slow season of growth for me. I am more confident in who I am, as a parent, a person, a neighbor and a friend. I have practiced expressing myself, confronting people when needed, learning from others where I fall short, and appreciating a slow afternoon with no expectations of greatness. And I know all of these things will serve me in this next season, too.
I’m ready, let’s get to work. Continue reading a season ends, a season begins

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My Five Favorites of 2023

It’s somehow New Year’s Eve today, and this is only the second post I’ve made this year. I guess that makes sense. With raising two kids, working part time, volunteering for two local parenting groups and our neighborhood organization, and watching many seasons of Grey’s Anatomy for the first time ever, I’ve been busy! This year I also listened to a lot of The Lazy … Continue reading My Five Favorites of 2023

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girl and boy walking down sidewalk, holding hands Sticky post

the first last day of school

On my daughter’s first day of preschool last fall, she was understandably nervous — we all were. As we walked up the sidewalk, another little girl ran up to her and said, “It’s my first day of school, too. Do you want to hold hands and walk in together?” At that my heart burst, and the tears I’d been holding back filled my eyes. They walked into the building together, and I knew they were going to be just fine.  Continue reading the first last day of school

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Go somewhere without your kids

This past weekend, Ben and I dropped the kids off with his parents and went away for three days. We haven’t spent any time away from them since January 2020, and it was marvelous. I found that as I told friends about our plan, every single parent I talked to said something like, “Wow, we haven’t done that in three/seven/ten years!”.What?! Maybe I’m still riding … Continue reading Go somewhere without your kids

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