by Charity Lee Jennings | Jan 17, 2018
My daughter was already pained that I wasn’t getting any surprises for Christmas, when we arrived at the store. Close your eyes, she said, and hid something in the cart. I smiled, then wondered what the sales clerk thought when I turned my back while my daughter made...
by Charity Lee Jennings | Sep 6, 2017
I thought it was just a drawing – it was more. The aloe plant I sketched belonged to my teenaged son and drawing it drew him to me. He doesn’t beg my attention. Like me, he always has a project on the go. Like me, he’s always looking for a chance to escape and...
by Charity Lee Jennings | Oct 1, 2016
Once you learn to read, you will be forever free. –Frederick Douglass Packing for our move to China, years ago, I tucked some books into our suitcase for my two little ones. I had no idea the role they would play in our family life. When we stepped off the plane,...
by Charity Lee Jennings | Mar 9, 2016
“Monkeys,” my kids squealed as they ran to the enclosure. One climbed the chain-link, peering out at us, while another scurried across a beam. “Look, a baby!” I pointed. Their eyes turned to a mother gazing down at a miniature version of herself, who clung to her...
by Charity Lee Jennings | Jan 27, 2016
I love seeing glimpses of myself in my daughter. When she received some new art supplies this Christmas, I got a good, long look at our similarities. As she opened the watercolour paints, tearing the gift wrap off – shutting out other gifts that were scattered around,...
by Charity Lee Jennings | Jan 2, 2016
Rather than writing resolutions, I’m sharing a New Year story with you. This is a fictional story based entirely on real events from my experiences of raising my children in China. In the middle of the afternoon, on January 3rd, Eliza, the youngest of three,...
