• My parents gave me a checkbook and a ledger to track my spending when I was younger. • I wanted to do the same with my son, but since now everything is digital, I gave him a debit card. • It's been months now, and he has been responsible with his money. To teach me about money, when I was 10 years old, my parents gave me a checkbook from their credit union and taught me how to track my spending in a handwritten ledger. Today, commerce is digital, and understanding how to use tech to budget,

It’s rare in today’s society to see so many people from so many different backgrounds come together in support of one common goal. As a mom, I want my kids to see how they can make genuine and meaningful connections with others, no matter who they are or where they come from. I want to give them examples of true community; a place where support is never conditional or in short-supply. As outrageous as it may seen, I’ve found that exact thing as a Houston Astros fan during the 2022 World Series.

was diagnosed with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer in 2018, our family, including my mother, father, aunt, uncle, sister and me, rallied to support her through 18 months of chemotherapy and her recent decision to enter hospice. My grandmother lives with my uncle and aunt, who make sure her day-to-day needs are met, while my mother takes her to most of her medical appointments and communicates with her doctors. The rest of us step in to help when needed. This support has been a blessing for

While I am not a CEO, I am like Sara Blakely in that I’m a working mom with four kids, juggling the demands that come with the territory, and my job as a writer requires plenty of creativity — something the inventor of Spanx has no shortage of. How would it feel to live in her shoes for a day? Would following Blakely’s daily routine allow me to use my creative brain while giving me the confidence of someone running a multi-million dollar empire? I followed Blakely’s routine as she outlined in a

When cancer waylays her grandmother’s self-care routine, Ashley Jones learns a new way to express her love and appreciation. I recently painted my 78-year-old grandmother’s toenails. A breast cancer survivor of more than seven years, she is currently battling invasive stage IV adenocarcinoma lung cancer. Her cancer is inoperable, but she is receiving strong chemotherapy. After her first few rounds of chemo, she felt weak and was sick most days. Not able to take care of herself the way that

As a dance teacher, I have seen children come through my classes with all kinds of families. Just last year, I had one student in particular whose dad brought her to class every single week. Despite not knowing anything about tutus or ballet shoes, he helped foster a love of dance in his daughter by bringing her to class week after week. When it came time for our annual recital, this particular father asked me if I would help fix his daughter’s hair and makeup. Dads were not allowed to be in th

Sitting in a dark room, clinging to my newborn son, rocking him for more than an hour as he struggled to fall asleep, I whisper-sang the words to every single Taylor Swift song I could think of. My breath was heavy and my chest was tight. I wanted to scream and cry, but I just kept rocking and whisper-singing late into the night like some country music–obsessed zombie. On nights like this, my mind became a tangled mess of thoughts: I wondered if I was a good enough mom. I obsessively questioned

The bonding that takes place at a family reunion is incomparable. My own cousins and I can go years without seeing one another. Yet when we get together, we laugh and cut up like no time has passed at all. And it's all because of family reunions. I remember playing tag and searching for bugs in my great-grandmother’s yard when we were kids. We just did kid stuff, unsupervised, with whichever cousins were around. Meanwhile, the adults caught up with each other inside, leaving us completely on o

Sitting in a dark room, I rocked back and forth to the sound of ocean waves streaming out of a white noise machine. My nine-month-old son was cradled in one arm as I scrolled through my social media feed with my free hand. Hot tears burned my eyes as I saw photo after photo of my married friends dressed to the nines and smiling up from dinner tables scattered with rose petals. I longed for that type of celebration. It was Feb. 14th, and I was spending Valentine’s Day apart from my husband. Befo

Kids can be awkward. The weird things kids do while learning the ways of the world can even border on embarrassing. From insisting that their invisible friend be served a five-course dinner consisting of only potato products to sniffing farts that their older brother shamelessly lets rip inside of an elevator, kids just engage in some inexplicable behavior sometimes. My own son is no exception. From the time he was about 2 years old, my youngest child has done something that makes me wince unco

When my son was 3 years old, my husband picked out a pair of overalls for him to try on while we were out shopping for school clothes. I laughed and said, "He's way too old to wear overalls!" thinking my husband was probably just joking. He was not. He looked me dead straight in the eyes and told me that those overalls would be absolutely precious on our child, marched him into the dressing room, tried them on him, and proceeded to buy them. I was mortified. What the heck would people think if

I have an unpopular opinion to share with the masses. Ready? Here it goes — everyone needs to leave Halloween on October 31. Halloween should not be moved to a Saturday. Period. The end. Don't agree? I get that, but please hear me out on this one. I've often lamented that when Halloween falls on a weeknight things feel rushed and my kids are too wound up from consuming all things sugar-covered to fall asleep anytime before 10 p.m. (which isn't exactly convenient for elementary schoolers), but I