Courage Doesn't Always Roar: A Teacher's Quest to Be Better Each Day

     Monday evenings are not ideal for going to see a movie in the theater, but there we were- my son, daughter and I, heading to the movies to see Coco last night. Alex's school's SEPTA was sponsoring the night and we attended last year, the night after Election Day, to watch Trolls . I remember still feeling numb but Trolls ended up being a fun distraction and still a movie we watch and rewatch often.        I know there's been an outcry about the Frozen short (20 minutes- not so short) that runs before Coco, but Anna and Elsa are two of my daughter's favorites so it was enjoyable to see them again. I thought it was cute and not nearly as obnoxious as the tweets I read about it.         I didn't know much about Coco before attending the movie, but I must say I loved it. There were themes of following your heart, family first, and fame at what cost. As someone who likes to picture Heaven as a big dinner party where my...

"Pancakes don't have feelings," my four year old daughter, Megan, chides me as I wash off the dishes. I had just tried to guilt her into eating more piece of the pancake cut on her plate. I probably said something to the effect of, "Oh, the pancakes all want a turn to be eaten! They feel sad you aren't eating them."  Megan was onto me, but assigning feelings to inanimate objects is something I've been doing my whole life. My sister's toast at my wedding referenced how I used to cry when she would kick pinecones at the park because I thought she was separating them from their families. (Ahem. I really thought that.) Oh, how she would gleefully kick the pinecones while saying, "Oh, no, my baby!" and "Mama pinecone, where are you?" I would cry, and scurry to put the pinecones back to where they sat before they were disturbed. Megan would have said, "Pinecones don't have feelings."  And so, they don't. But ...

Love is sitting on the floor inside a steamy  indoor pool because your 4 year old taking swimming lessons is afraid and wants you there. Love is sitting on a chair on a rainy, gray soccer field when you have  stacks of work to do because your son loves when you come to his games. Love is  resisting every little Halloween candy and all the donuts and treats left in the faculty room because you deserve to look and feel  your best. Love is calling your representative signing petitions and voting because you cannot stand by while people are gunned down in schools in churches in movie theaters in playgrounds at concerts. Love is wishing  you could do more. Love is  saying no to your child because another cookie or another tv show or another toy will be bad for them even though they  don't understand that and you seem mean.  Love is  making them say "thank you" and making them brush their te...