August 27
A Friend Stopped Coming to Church and My Kids Noticed
A woman I love stopped coming to church this winter. Here's what I told my kids when they asked, and what I've been doing about the friendship.
By Melissa Whitakerwith love, Melissa
Autumn · October
Every essay, every home note.
The complete archive of Melissa Whitaker's essays and reflections on LDS Family Life, organized around family discipleship, honest motherhood, marriage, faith at home, and the home rhythms that shape a family over time. Showing older posts, page 6.
Family discipleship
Practical essays on prayer, scripture study, Sabbath patterns, and building a faithful home culture in ordinary life.
Motherhood & marriage
First-person reflections on parenting, emotional honesty, family fatigue, closeness, and raising children without performance.
Home rhythms
Home notes on homemaking, hospitality, steadiness, and the spiritual texture of ordinary family routines.
Essays
August 26
A Meal Is Not Always a Gift to the Family Eating It
I've carried a lot of dinners to doorsteps and been handed a lot of them. Here's what actually helped and what turned into one more chore.
By Melissa Whitakerwith love, Melissa
August 25
My Sixth Grader Cries Over Math and Here's What Helped
Week two of school and a mom in the pickup line asked if everybody's sixth grader cries over math. Mine does too. Here's what has helped.
By Melissa Whitakerwith love, Melissa
August 24
What to Tell a New Eight-Year-Old About the Sacrament Prayers
Lily has taken the sacrament since June and asked what she's supposed to think about. Here's what I told her, and what I do with a two-year-old in the pew.
By Melissa Whitakerwith love, Melissa
August 23
Psalm 23 at Midnight Is a Harder Read Than You'd Think
Lily has been at our bedroom door after midnight, and Psalm 23 was the only thing I knew by heart. What worked, what didn't, and what she asked about.
By Melissa Whitakerwith love, Melissa
August 22
What I Tell My Kids When They Ask What I Do in the Temple
The plain things I say to my kids about the temple, the things I keep for later, and how my dad handled my little brother's questions for years.
By Melissa Whitakerwith love, Melissa
August 21
A Birthday Invitation Came Home for Sunday and Was Due Friday
When a birthday invitation lands on a Sunday, here is how a family can decide, what to tell the child, and what to text the other mom.
By Melissa Whitakerwith love, Melissa
August 20
Movie Night With an Eleven-Year-Old and a Two-Year-Old
How we pick a movie when the kids are two, eight and eleven, and what I do with the remote when a scene turns out to be something else.
By Melissa Whitakerwith love, Melissa
August 19
Ben Eats Four Things and I Still Won't Cook a Second Dinner
My toddler will eat four foods right now. Here's what I serve him anyway, what I refuse to cook, and the few places where I give in.
By Melissa Whitakerwith love, Melissa
August 18
The Night-Before-School Blessing, and Who Gets to Ask for It
How our family does the father's blessing the night before school, what David says, and what Caleb and Lily have told me about it afterward.
By Melissa Whitakerwith love, Melissa