adolescence Archives - Soft In Hard Places

Coming Home

LisaPullenKent — Wed, 28 Mar 2018 20:29:10 +0000

The night is a pleasant 68 degrees, but heat emanates from the bright stadium lights, and I’m damp beneath my Rock Bridge High School T-shirt. My boots clink on the aluminum steps as I climb past the student section and … Continue reading →

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Confessions Of A Reluctant Stage Mom

LisaPullenKent — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 20:18:57 +0000

“I’d like to go to brunch,” I say, loading my athletic shoes into my gym bag. A suitcase sits open on the floor. My husband carefully lays out his dry cleaning on the bed for yet another business trip. I … Continue reading →

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Enough

LisaPullenKent — Wed, 10 Dec 2014 20:05:51 +0000

I actually did it. For once I followed through on a threat. I’ve battled my children for years — no, decades — over the condition of their bedrooms. When the eldest two were teens, I all but conceded the fight. … Continue reading →

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Becoming

LisaPullenKent — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 22:52:21 +0000

I love teenagers. I do. Everything about them: the awkward, the self-conscious, even the angry bits. I’m especially intrigued by the way they shed their childhood like a skin and emerge a newer, older version of themselves. I even kind … Continue reading →

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Big Rocks

LisaPullenKent — Wed, 18 Jun 2014 15:18:55 +0000

For a year now, I’ve intended to write about turning 50––a contemplative, insightful piece extolling the wisdom gained from living for half a century, but I ran out of time. In a few days I’ll be 51. Gone the way … Continue reading →

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Object of Her Affection

LisaPullenKent — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 23:45:54 +0000

“I just have to tell you something, Mom. I’m really liking boys without their shirts on.” Sydney first confided this secret to her long-time sitter as they walked downtown near campus where the streets buzz with college students and where … Continue reading →

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Kids Can Change the World or Lisa Goes to Science Camp

LisaPullenKent — Thu, 15 Nov 2012 09:27:25 +0000

We don’t even have to try, It’s always a good time. Owl City—Good Time My memories of 7th grade provoke a visceral response. Awkward and insecure, I sought acceptance through conformity, applying baby blue crème eye shadow thickly from a … Continue reading →

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Leap From the Nest

LisaPullenKent — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 09:19:49 +0000

Where are you going, my little one, little one,Where are you going, my baby, my own?Turn around and you’re two, turn around and you’re four,Turn around and you’re a young girl going out of my door. Malvina Reynolds and Alan … Continue reading →

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