Filed under My Life with Exceptional Kids …

Letter to My Childhood Sunday School Teacher

This Easter, I want to recognize a particular teacher I knew as a kid. Miss Ann and I attended a country church in Oklahoma during the early 1980s. She was the first Sunday school teacher I can remember from my childhood. There may have been others, but Miss Ann taught me in a plain-spoken way. … Continue reading →

Read My Book for Free this Friday and Saturday

Friends, if you’ve wanted to read my book, Confessions of a Lip Reading Mom, I have a surprise for you. This Friday and Saturday only, the book will be available *for free download* on Amazon Kindle. Click here to access Confessions of a Lip Reading Mom on Amazon Kindle. Remember, it’s free only on March … Continue reading →

I Just Want to be a Wife and Mom

The words flew out of my mouth in between pneumonia-induced coughs. “I’m tired of trying to do everything perfectly. Writing. Speaking. Volunteering. I just want to be a wife and mom.” Wait, did I really commit myself to something here, something purely domestic and…simple? From childhood, I wanted to be lots of things. Writer. Actress. … Continue reading →

What I Learned on My 40th Birthday

Happy New Year, friends! The holidays brought lots of celebrating in the Lipreading Mom house, including three birthday parties. One of those parties was mine. Now that I am a young 40 years old, I’ve been thinking about what I want to do with the rest of my life (and what I don’t). Can you … Continue reading →

When All You Have Is Your Family…and Exhaustion

On Thanksgiving, I turned 40 years old. The next day, my five-year-old son and I began coughing. We coughed well into the night and the next day. When I couldn’t take it any more, Little Boy and I headed to an urgent care clinic. The “sleep and drink lots of fluids” recommendation didn’t settle with … Continue reading →

One Thing I Would Have Changed About School

Even though my hearing loss wasn’t diagnosed until I was 27, I remember having difficulty hearing as a child. In grade school, I struggled to hear lessons via headphones. When an audiologist tested my hearing, he told my parents I had normal hearing but had trouble paying attention. A second opinion was not sought. I … Continue reading →

How 9/11 Brought Me Back Home

Lipreading Mom’s confession: I didn’t think I could ever be a stay-at-home mom. The office environment suited me well. I was working for a not-for-profit and writing for its magazine. There were weekly planning meetings, phone interviews and research projects to occupy five days a week. In fact, I knew very few women who didn’t … Continue reading →