When your son is supposed to be at the bus stop, but instead he’s crouching three houses away, looking intently at the curb, you know something disgusting has caught his eye. “You’d better get to the bus stop,” I call. He doesn’t move. “Eeew. It’s alive!” Perhaps you...

You always have high hopes for a normal day, until the kids come home from school and shout, “Hey, Mom, there’s a snake in the garage.” Yippee. It’s not that I’m against snakes or nature in general. I just think slithering creatures with cold beady eyes belong in the...

  On a bright Sunday morning, my fifteen year old son with his freshly minted learner’s permit sits behind the steering wheel of the car, leaving the passenger seat to me. Right. We’re going to church. I can start praying early. Except I don’t get the chance....

I beg to differ with the word “intuitive” so readily applied to today’s technology. Every shiny, silicon gizmo that pops on the market is “intuitive.” What they mean is “self-explanatory if you’re twelve and convinced you cannot possibly lobotomize your new device by...

“You need to take a shower today,” I tell my teenage son. He frowns. “Why?” After thirteen years of bathing, you’d think he’d comprehend its basic purpose. I’ve discovered the polite response is useless. “You stink, son.” “So? I’m not going anywhere today.” His mouth...

My son Jonathan has a talent for drama. The stage kind (as opposed to the angsty teenage/girlfriend/school/car/job kind). Not that his relationship with the stage is without hairy moments. Take his last competition for example. He comes home at dinner time from his...

Remember the days before GPS’s? When a seemingly innocuous day trip could result in a scene like this: Hubby hunches over the steering wheel and scans the upcoming intersection. “Where am I supposed to turn?” Wife squints sideways at the guidebook map. “I don’t know.”...

I’m riding with my mom and dad in a crowded cable car suspended 900 feet in the air. We’re swaying gently in the breeze, but it isn’t exactly comforting. I mean, “Rock-a-Bye Baby” does not have a happy ending. The cable creaks. The wind huffs. The car jitters. Worst...

Having a dog with high exercise needs has had some life-altering repercussions. I used to be your basic, mostly-in-shape gal, but I’ve turned into an I-must-run-long-distances-everyday freak. I haven’t decided if this is a blessing or a curse. I mean, at first it was...

A good friend of mine recently mentioned that Godiva dark chocolate-covered cherries are her favorite. This sticks in my brain, because, you know, it’s about chocolate. I decide I’ll bring her a delicious gift the next time I fly out to see her. She’s a nice gal and...

I probably shouldn’t tell you this. Not when y’all might be still forming your opinion of me, and I don’t want it to be: Poor Erin, she’s sparsely populated in the brain cell department. Then again, you might as well know the truth. It all started in my childhood,...

Life should come with a warning label that says: Often appears to make no rational sense. Take my masters degree in music theory and composition. A handful of childhood guitar lessons at the YMCA did not turn me into Segovia. As for singing ability, well, the kindest...

One of my favorite things about the Mount Hermon Writers Conference is its location amidst towering redwoods. Humor me, I live in the flatlands of Oklahoma where trees are basically just overgrown shrubs. Mount Hermon’s ancient sentinels form a tranquil forest world...

Dear God, I’d like to bring Your attention to an issue I call Good-Deed Fail. Good deeds are obviously nice and important and all that, so I’m sure You want to encourage us to do them. Therefore, I feel like You oughta be doing Your part to make sure those good deeds...