Gripping and immersive"

-Publisher's Weekly

"Stirring, raw, and personal"

-Foreward Indies

"Brave if harrowing"

-Kirkus Reviews

"A powerful work of unfiltered truth"

-Library Journal

Instructions Not Included: Our lives as parents

Image Credit: Susan Burrowes

Reflection

It’s another family gathering, and only one of my two daughters are with me. My daughter Hannah has chosen not to join the annual food fest.

I understand why she, a struggling artist, avoids our loud and loving family, eager to give her good advice about her future. She should be a teacher, they tell her, a realtor, an illustrator, maybe a farmer.

“I already am something” she said to me three years ago, pulling me outside for a walk.

Bindi

I stare at my daughter’s heart shaped face, heart colored hair, the deep red waves falling softly over her pixie ears as she concentrates on filling out her college applications. Her focus is total, like her determination.

On her forehead, right in the middle like a beautiful bindi jewel is a deep scar...

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Enabler

Enabler. The word sounds dirty. It is the pornography of helicopter parenting. Yet, now that I have the luxury of scrutinizing my own parenting skills, or lack of skills from a much higher altitude, I see that out of all the words that might describe my role in my daughter’s descent, enabler fits best.

The Power of Forgiveness

Hannah was going to cut off my thumbs, kill me in my sleep, and burn down the house with our family inside. My daughter shifted from moody to malicious over just a few months, leaving our family shattered and stunned.

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You Gave Me WHAT?

A Pitch For Civility

When you write about yourself and your family, there is a risk. In this era of rudeness, it is hard to predict not only what people will say about your work but how they will say it.

I wrote a book about my parenting mistakes in the face of sudden, inexplicable changes in my much-loved eldest child, as she fell into a world of drugs, alcohol and self-harm.

Recently, I checked into the hospital. It was a minor procedure but I underwent all of the pre-surgery scans and questions one has come to expect. Do you have any allergies? Is someone picking you up after surgery? I was sent for lab work, and an EKG to assure that nothing unexpected would happen.

Gripping and immersive"​​​​​​​​ -Publisher's Weekly

"Stirring, raw, and personal"​​​​​ -Foreward Indies

"Brave if harrowing" -Kirkus Re​views

"​A powerful work of unfiltered truth" -Library Journal

​​​​​ Instructions Not Included: Our lives as parents