Category - Stories

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Visit Us At Our New Website—averybrightlife.com
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Pandemic Parenting: Back to School or Not?
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Mistakes Happen—What You Do Next Matters
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Kids Learning To Play Again: A Quarantine Positive
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Are People More Entitled Than Ever?

Visit Us At Our New Website—averybrightlife.com

Twelve years and so many memories later, it’s time to say adios to Forever in Mom Genes. I mean, she’s not technically leaving. I am. This website, and her content, will remain here in her little corner of internet. Well, until I forget to renew the domain name and she slips away into the abyss of cyber space. I’m not going far though. You can find me…AND my daughter Avery over at aVERYbrightlife.com. The stories here have become predominantly Avery’s—her life, her interests, her perspective. This amazing girl is older now and has expressed an interest in telling her stories, in her voice. So come visit us—on the new website, the blog, and the brand new podcast! Thanks for reading, for sharing and for all the love and support. We hope to see you soon! xoxo Lisa and Avery

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Pandemic Parenting: Back to School or Not?

Last August we were deciding what school backpack to buy and whether or not to sign up for the school lunch program. This year we’re deciding whether or not to send our children back to school in the midst of a contagious virus. It feels surreal (word of the year right there). This isn’t a choice anybody imagined having to make. Though everyone is saying, “Whatever your decision, we support you, no judgment,” that’s not entirely true. People are judging. Though it’s not really about other people’s choices, but about justifying and feeling secure about our own. But here’s the thing. PANDEMIC. There is no security, and the uncertainty brings out the worst in some people. Imagine a single working mom who has no option for childcare and who would absolutely keep her kids home if she could. Then imagine she scrolls through her Facebook feed and sees the following comment: “If you’re sending your kids back to school, you better update your will.” What an awful thing to say. It’s dramatic and mean. An insensitive and ignorant comment like this compounds the guilt and distress she is already feeling. If you were sitting down with this mom over coffee masked[…]

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Mistakes Happen—What You Do Next Matters

You might have the best of intentions, but you can be accidentally offensive or innocently insensitive. We’ve all done it. It’s what we do next, after the mistake or misstep, that shows who we really are. I saw this image on Instagram and wanted to share it. I traced it back to the original source—because we should always do that if we can. Giving credit where credit is due is worth a little sleuthing because creating beautiful pictures and thoughtful graphics takes work. I found the artist’s page and read what she wrote to accompany the graphic she created. I nodded in agreement with her sentiments about treating people with love and respect, and about checking our privilege and biases and just being better. Amen girl.  *Posted with permission from @ARTBYBIANCAGA If I hadn’t looked for the original content, I wouldn’t have seen the author’s EDIT. In this simple addition to her post she demonstrated her commitment to listening and learning. Isn’t this what we’ve all be vowing to do? To listen and learn and change by accepting feedback with an open mind and a gracious heart?  When we admit that we didn’t know what we didn’t know, we grow.[…]

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Kids Learning To Play Again: A Quarantine Positive

I still can’t believe this is happening. It’s like we’re living out a Netflix series. I’ve shared a bit about my personal struggles with the stress and my OMG PTSD, and so many have reached out to tell me I’m not freaking out alone. Thanks for that.  This situation is disarming with obvious negatives.  But, during this scary pandemic, there are some unexpected positives. Here’s one.  Kids are kicking it old school and it’s refreshing. It feels like some kind of childhood reset. Kids are learning to play again—they’re imagining, crafting, and pretending. Not all day, every day. Let’s be real. My kids have spent way more time online than I care to admit. For e-learning of course, but also for fluffy entertainment. When I’m working and need to concentrate, my daughter is usually on a device. Sometimes she’s doing schoolwork. Sometimes she’s on a chat app talking to a friend. Sometimes she’s watching Ninja Kids TV (her current obsession) on You Tube. Even screenagers are starting to say enough is enough and have found other ways to entertain themselves… offline. OFFLINE—the mysterious place where we GenXers used to roam, free-range style, until the streetlights turned on. My son picked up his[…]

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Are People More Entitled Than Ever?

Are people more entitled than ever or am I just getting old and cranky? I nearly lost my mind when an episode of what I’m calling an “Engorged Sense of Entitlement” unfolded before my eyes at my daughter’s swimming lesson. Our local pool is stupid freezing so when lessons ended, my little swimmer had blue lips and icy skin. There are only four shower stalls in the locker room—one was broken and the other three were occupied, so we waited to rinse and warm up. Several minutes went by and my daughter continued to wait and shiver. The three mothers waiting in front of the occupied shower stalls stood stone faced, avoiding eye contact though they were fully aware of us standing right behind them.  They didn’t encourage their daughters to hurry even though others were obviously waiting (by this time a long line had formed behind us). Instead they told their girls to scrub their hair and clean behind their ears. These kids were taking their full bedtime shower complete with shampoo, conditioner, and a leisurely soak. We waited over ten minutes before one curtain finally parted and a girl stepped out. My daughter hopped in and was in and out in under three[…]

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