Skip to main content

A Box

I first fell in love with good stories in third grade, even though I struggled with reading. I was supposed to read chapter books, but couldn't get through them. Midway through third grade, I attempted C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe” but had to give up after a few chapters. That summer, with little else to do on our isolated butte, I tried again. It took all summer, but I got hooked by the middle of the book. Reading became easy, and my love for stories was born.

In high school, I collected quotes, poems, and stories, but burned them after a disappointment, thinking I couldn't match my talented sister. Yet, stories stayed with me, moving me deeply. My book club has been a source of spiritual growth, sparking profound discussions.

Now, with my own children, stories flow from me. I no longer worry about being good at storytelling—they love them! Stories give us intimate time together, teach them about me, and help them learn powerful lessons. They have become a balm for our relationships, weaving through our family life.

This blog is my new box, where I keep stories that touch my life, share their impact on my family, and hope to inspire others to create and share stories, especially with their children.

Happy Tales!

Kristen


ps. After a long break from sharing my writing online, I am returning to my blog. During my hiatus, I published two children's picture books, got my master’s in education, graduated two boys from high school, married off another, and started teaching kindergarten. Now I feel inspired to write again for my grown children, my Kindergarten students, and hopefully my future grandchildren.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Go. Heal Thyself, Girl!

Go.   Heal Thyself, Girl! A story of personal healing Ever since I gave birth to Thing 1, I’ve struggled with slouching.   I figured it was a combination of things:   engorged breasts that would have won money in a wet t-shirt contest, muscle fatigue from holding a well-fed baby, and stomach muscles that had been stretched beyond reason.   Two more babies and nine more years under my belt, and I’m still struggling with slouching.   In fact, it’s been getting worse.   For at least the last year and a half, I’ve been consciously trying to fix the problem.   I check in with myself regularly throughout the day: “Am I slouching?   Yes!   Stop that!” I’ve been working on my core, trying to bolster those muscles and give my shoulders a break.   All to no avail.   What is my problem?   I was a dancer for heaven's sake.   Dancers don’t slouch!   They have lovely posture (and small breasts, I might add). ...
4 comments
Read more

Book Review: Good Pictures, Bad Pictures

Good Pictures, Bad Pictures Porn-Proofing Today's Kids   Two years ago when my then six and nine year old boys were inadvertently exposed to pornography by a neighbor boy I dove into educating myself on this topic.   Despite my best efforts to protect them from this exact type of thing, I had failed.   My heart was broken, yet I was determined to do what I needed to in order to help them through this.   According to Internetsaftey101.com seven out of ten youth have accidentally come across pornography online and American children begin consuming hardcore pornography at an average age of 11.   On top of that four out of five 16 year olds view pornography on a regular basis.   Fight the New Drug claims they often get emails from six year olds sharing about their addictions to porn. These are frightening statistics.   Part of me wants to discount them as being overly aggressive for shock value, but then I realize even if these stats are cut...
1 comment
Read more

Puff the Magic Dragon Lives On

10 Years Later Note: Rereading this after ten years brings back such sweet memories. I’m so glad I now have a class full of littles who don’t mind my singing. I dusted off this version of Puff the Magic Dragon that I created and shared it with them—it was a big hit. Now I just need to learn to play the ukulele, because that would really seal the deal! Thing 3 is now two. He has a love-hate relationship with dragons. He gets scared when he sees them, but still asks me to sing songs about them. His favorite right now is, of course, “Puff the Magic Dragon.” “Sing dragon, Mommy. Back, back,” he says, asking me to sing the Puff song while rubbing his back. I LOVE this. I could do it forever—if my back didn’t get tired, if my other boys didn’t need the same kind of attention, and if the dishes weren’t also calling to me. Actually… forget the dishes. We don’t really need them anyway. When Thing 1 was about four years old, I sang “Puff” to him and he cried. I guess I sang it a little too d...
2 comments
Read more