The other day, two of my children (ages three and five) were up at 4:45am. Desperately clinging to the notion that I could sleep at least another hour, I asked them to be quiet. I begged them to be quiet. And when none of that worked, I told them to shut their mouths. The…

A few weeks ago, my twins reminded me of how much havoc the two of them can wreak in a very short period of time. Goldie had absolutely refused to come inside because — dirt. So I did what felt like a very reasonable parenting move at the time: I made sensory bins. Rice.…

I joined the Army at 26 years old. I turned 27 the day I left the reception battalion for my basic training unit. I was not the oldest trainee in the company, but close. Basic training taught me that I could walk forever, shoot a rifle, chuck a grenade though, they did write ‘chicken…