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Recent Posts
- Psaltery & Lyre’s New Site
- 123 Psaltery & Lyre: “Agricola Dreams of Flying” by J. Rose Lara
- 122 Psaltery & Lyre: “Communion: a love poem (a villanelle)” by Rachel Bollinger
- Book Review: Philip Metres’s Sand Opera
- 121 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Horsehead Nebula”
- Book Review: Monica Ong’s Silent Anatomies
- 120 Psaltery & Lyre: Rachael Matthews, “Return, pt. III” and “Gaia”
- Book Review: Claudia Rankine’s Don’t Let Me Be Lonely
- Book Review: Matthea Harvey, If the Tabloids Are True What Are You?
- Book Review: LoterÃa Cards and Fortune Poems: A Book of Lives
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Tag Cloud
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children Archive
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This Must Stop: A Call to End Sexually Invasive Interviews Between Priesthood Leaders and Minors in the LDS Church
Posted on August 18, 2013 | 396 CommentsTRIGGER WARNING: sexual and spiritual abuse When I was 13-years-old, I was violated in a very personal way. A middle-aged man from my neighborhood pulled me aside, brought me into a private room, and asked me explicit sexual questions. It was a traumatic experience. It […] -
Parenthood Juggle: I Never Had to Ask For Permission
Posted on March 29, 2013 | 3 CommentsMy dad got teary with pride every time; my mom sported her corsage in the colors of whatever institution I was graduating from at the moment. -
Guest Post Invitation: The Parenthood Juggle
Posted on December 28, 2012 | 10 CommentsI want my daughters (and my son!) to be able to read about other women's struggles. How did they go about deciding what to do and when? -
28 Psaltery & Lyre: Kris Bluth, “Truth of Consequences”
Posted on November 19, 2012 | No Comments"She called me at 11:00 on / Saturday night and asked if / I could have sex with her." -
Unexpected Spiritual Experiences: Light and Shadow
Posted on August 30, 2012 | 8 Comments"I don't know much," I think to myself, "but I know there is truth in their steady breathing, and in their dirty laundry scattered on the floor." -
11 Psaltery & Lyre: Heather Olson Beal, “Quiver Full”
Posted on August 16, 2012 | 2 CommentsHeather Olson Beal is a regular blogger at D&S. See her complete bio on the "About Us" page. -
11 Dear Jack: Make It Work
Posted on January 7, 2012 | 2 CommentsDear Jack, Our ward is changing meeting times next year, and we’ll meet right in the middle of kids’ nap and lunch times. Do we make everyone go to church for three hours and spend the rest of the day crabby, cranky, hungry and […] -
Roller Coaster
Posted on January 5, 2012 | 2 CommentsA year ago, I was living in a daze. I was spending most nights curled up against my 11 year old daughter's back as she lay on her side in her bed, willing her pain to dissipate, even hoping to absorb it myself. -
Santa and I
Posted on December 22, 2011 | 7 CommentsThe year I turned four or five, we drove to my grandparents in central Wisconsin for Christmas. Actually, we did this for most years of my early childhood- until I was 8 or so and we moved to Florida. Making the 1100 mile […] -
Prodigal
Posted on December 8, 2011 | 5 CommentsLast week, at a familiar intersection, the sign a man held up said, "It doesn't take much to be kind." -
The Feast of St. Francis
Posted on November 10, 2011 | 7 CommentsThis year, our family observed General Conference by attending the local Episcopal church. -
Family Ties
Posted on October 27, 2011 | 5 CommentsWhere is the line between serving your family and loosing yourself in it? -
The Wish Tree
Posted on September 15, 2011 | 1 CommentI had my five year old daughter with me and I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't get her very interested in the bronzes. Then we turned the corner and beheld the Wish Tree. -
The Nursery Window
Posted on August 4, 2011 | 2 Comments"Long ago," he said, "I thought like you that my mother would always keep the window open for me, so I stayed away for moons and moons and moons, and then flew back; but the window was barred, for mother had forgotten all about me, and there was another little boy sleeping in my bed." -
I, Heather Kathleen Olson Beal, Being of Sound Mind and Body
Posted on July 20, 2011 | 18 CommentsA few months ago, Brent and I finally managed to complete a task that has been on our to-do list for-gulp-14.5 years. We had a will drawn up (and other sad-ish documents like a power of attorney, a living will, etc.). Why 14.5 years? Our […] -
You Can Recognize Them by Their Hand-Carved Daggers…
Posted on May 19, 2011 | 36 CommentsI love memoirs. And I love Tina Fey. So I was just salivating as my friends and co-bloggers raved about Bossypants when it came out. Finally, on Mother’s Day, I stuffed myself silly on waffles, settled back in my bed, and […] -
BUTT-erfly T-shirts for Mother’s Day
Posted on May 4, 2011 | 13 CommentsMy first child was born on January 5. The months between her birth and Mother’s Day were, um, let’s just say they were difficult. She cried all day long and into the night. We spent hours pacing the halls with her while she screamed, listening […] -
Fff… family
Posted on April 19, 2011 | No CommentsI just read this today and loved it: http://www.literarymama.com/columns/perfectlynormal/archives/2011/ffffamily.html A great reminder that not all families look alike (which clearly we should not need reminding) and that for some people, celebrations that revolve around families are not celebrations at all. -
Natural Coastline Ecosystems
Posted on April 15, 2011 | 1 CommentThis is a photo I took on a short (half a day) trip to the beach over Spring Break. Behind me is the Atlantic Ocean. I was in Florida visiting my parents and we took a detour home via Hanna Park in Atlantic […] -
Delousing the Kids
Posted on April 6, 2011 | 4 CommentsThis beautiful poem was written by my dear friend, Dayna Patterson, after patiently listening to me whine about our 2010 lice-capade. It will be published later this year in a chapbook called Mothering. Dayna has another chapbook that was published recently called Loose […] -
An Unlikely Prayer of Thanksgiving
Posted on April 6, 2011 | 9 CommentsLast summer, Brent and Stuart went to get a haircut. While there, the stylist discovered that Stuart had lice (gasp!). We soon discovered that Marin also had it (double gasp!). Kennedy managed to escape unscathed. From my perspective growing up, it seemed like the only […] -
Kids and Calamities
Posted on March 31, 2011 | 12 CommentsI watched the Twin Towers fall on TV, my oldest child safely ensconced in her kindergarten class. My toddler was playing with blocks nearby…. building towers and knocking them down. “Mommy, why does your face look like this?” she asked, mimicking my […] -
“Do you want to end up living under a bridge?”
Posted on March 17, 2011 | 10 CommentsThis is, reportedly, what my daughter’s second grade teacher asked her class during a fit of frustration over their less-than-enthusiastic preparation for the looming standardized testing. Several other parents and I were concerned, but felt trapped in the status quo and didn’t really see […] -
I’m a Public School Junkie
Posted on March 9, 2011 | 34 CommentsI’m a public school junkie and since this is Texas Public Schools Week (who knew?), I’m hopping up on my Public Schools Soapbox. My three siblings and I are all products of Texas public schools, which served us remarkably well-academically and socially. […] -
Celebrating the Man As Well As His Cause
Posted on March 3, 2011 | 13 CommentsA guest post from a reader, Debra. Names matter. They do. My life experience has taught me this. Names are important as they are references — signs – that direct us to meaning, and often to a particular point in time – in history. In […] -
Zachary’s Ride (Walk) to Church
Posted on February 27, 2011 | 17 CommentsCome see Laura and her son Zachary’s walk to church in the Bay Area. Laura writes: Our kindergartner loves photography, and this was the perfect opportunity. We headed out on the first sunny morning we’ve had for a week or so, and as we […] -
Forbidden Fruit
Posted on January 26, 2011 | 45 CommentsSo, I just finished reading an absolutely fascinating book called Forbidden Fruit: Sex and Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers by Mark Regnerus, a professor at University of Texas-Austin. The book focuses on how religiosity influences teenagers’ sexual attitudes and behaviors. (See the […] -
Memories
Posted on December 16, 2010 | 4 CommentsA grateful resident presented me with a chocolate turkey, wrapped in beautiful multicolored foil. Then she looked around her room, reached over to her bedside table, and handed my brother a mushy brown banana. -
Let My People Go
Posted on December 15, 2010 | 10 CommentsMy little Stuart has a bleeding heart. He is unusually quick, I think, to identify a person or an action as being unfair or unkind and to want to right the wrong (unless it’s one of his sisters, in the which case it’s revenge, no […] -
Lunch 5- Out of the Comfort Zone
Posted on December 2, 2010 | 8 CommentsWe (and our children) have had to learn to be gracious guests at both cockroach infested decrepit apartments and mansions where we are served by The Help. -
Giving Thanks
Posted on November 26, 2010 | 1 Comment'The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose.' -Mahatma Ghandi -
On living my confirmation
Posted on November 3, 2010 | 30 CommentsI took a course as a Ph.D. student called “Engendering Curriculum History.” I was 30-something, had three kids (ages 0, 3, and 6), and fancied myself a good feminist (although also Mormon, which is an oxymoron to many-myself included). An article we read […] -
Urban Camping Part II
Posted on October 20, 2010 | 13 CommentsMy husband had just offered me the deal of the century: one month, completely kid-free, so that I could focus all my attention and energy on writing my dissertation proposal. Of course I took him up on his offer ... -
Cara’s Story
Posted on October 16, 2010 | 4 CommentsA poem, by Andy. Perhaps this is your story, too. -
The First Lunch
Posted on October 7, 2010 | 14 CommentsA middle-aged Hispanic man is walking past the car where I pull up to the light. He sits down on the curb two cars behind us. He has a sign, but I don't read it.