ROE INTENSE

520 days ago today, Payton Benson, 5, caught a bullet through one of her walls while she was eating breakfast . That bullet was one of 20 fired by three gunmen more than a city block away from that baby's home. She died at the hospital.   That baby's home was 15 blocks from our home. The neighborhood wherein this beautiful baby died is not quite distant, but not quite close to us. Ruth was five at the time as well. The pain was still real. We felt for those parents. We hugged the Princesses close and said prayers for the family. Then gunshots peeled out from less than a block away from our home. It was a cold night. Ruth was up late. She was worried about something. She had been up too late reading and needed help getting back to sleep. "Can you sing me a song, Daddy?" she asked. She climbed too slowly up the ladder to her top bunk, but she made it. I sang to her and we chatted. We discussed what she was reading. We discussed why it was important to go to...

I've been chewing on this one for a long time. My blog is meant to inspire and uplift - and possibly entertain - as I catalogue my journey to being debt free. My wife is affected so much in this, just like me. I can't help but listen to what she says and what other mothers say as they struggle day to day. First, I should explain the attention-pillaging title. Mom Guilt is a term coined by many, many circles. But I don't think its guilt. I do not believe "mommy guilt" is an accurate description of what you wonderful women experience. You give birth to a wonderful, new, engaging, demanding, beautiful child. You rear that child for a few short weeks or months. Then, 'x' happens: You find out you can't breastfeed, or you struggle so much your nipples bleed. You return to the workforce. You struggle to meet the needs of older children. You can't get your kids into every activity you'd like (again, if you have older children). You learn that...