mothering

Please Bless All the People

Every night since Sandy Hook, my 6 year old son has uttered essentially the same prayer. “Please bless all the people and all the earth that no bad things will happen and that everyone will be OK.” Clearly this last week (and many of the weeks prior) this prayer has not felt answered. He doesn’t know [...]

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Back to School Anywhere Else After Sandy Hook

I don’t know what today feels like for a teacher. But I know what it feels like for a mother. I’m betting those feelings are pretty similar, no matter your gender or the number of your offspring. It’s my baby’s birthday. His birth story is wonderful, rich with memories and love. But I can’t tell [...]

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Tweens Praying Over the Spaghetti

I’m in the land of tweens and I have no idea what I’m doing. Mean girls are everywhere. There’s lots of signs I’m doing this all wrong (me, not her). But every now and then there is a moment, and it changes everything. You can mentally allow yourself to fast forward to a future global [...]

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Why Social Good Summit is My Favorite Event of the Year

Three years in to the ground breaking event that is the Social Good Summit, I still pinch myself that I get to be a part of it! A host of conversations with world leaders, companies, nonprofits and representatives from various United Nations agencies opens up the world of the UN to the world via digital [...]

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Are You Glued to the Olympics? What Do They Represent for You?

. We’d love to see you again. Please subscribe via email or RSS. Or follow on Twitter or Facebook. What will you do today to wake up the world? We invite you to share your thoughts, your action and your heart right here.

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Anne-Marie Slaughter and the Trade-Off Ratio of Work Life Balance

Recently I was invited to apply for a CEO position for a very cool start-up targeting new mothers. I pondered over it for 24 hours, googled everything I could find on the company’s founder and backers, and thought long and hard about two key questions. Was something I could do (did I have the skills [...]

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When Mama Breaks the Rules

I come from a culture where motherhood is revered, and where the narrative of sacrifice, patience and perfection in one’s mothering is both inspirational and overwhelming. On days like Mother’s Day, the weight of all that mothers are supposed to be can feel like a blessing and a burden. The talks and sermons at church [...]

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If You Died Today, What Would You Miss Most?

Last night I asked my children a tough question. If they died, what would they miss most about their life? A child dies every 20 seconds from a vaccine preventable disease somewhere in the world. This week is World Immunization Week and the world is acting in a big way to change this number. There [...]

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Loving the Whole Earth

A few years ago my husband, our kids and I created a series of family statements. The children drew pictures and we pasted the nine statements together to form a large poster that is framed and hung in a busy area of our home. “Winegars love the whole earth” It’s one of my favorites. It [...]

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Walking the Path of Pregnancy & Birth Together

Audrey’s greatest fear is to be pregnant or see her friends and loved ones pregnant. From the Million Moms Challenge today … . Welcome to to When You Wake Up A Mother. We’d love to see you again. Please subscribe via email or RSS. Or follow on Twitter or Facebook. What will you do today to wake up the world? We [...]

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