Liz Johnson
Liz is mom to second grader Jonah, preschooler Gwendolyn, and toddler Theo. She and Troy married and bought a Beaverdale home in 2010. A teacher on maternal hiatus, Liz prefers reading to housekeeping and uses West Wing reruns to settle her mind. She believes any problem can be solved with fiction but loves to explore her reality in Des Moines.
Dear Influenza
Dear Influenza,
We need to talk.
This wasn’t supposed to be your year. You visited us last year when the headlines ran rampant with news of your devastation. We were properly aware of you, expected...
Show, Don’t Tell: The Importance of Imperfect Modeling
I devoured parenting books, blogs, and websites when our first-born came home. Once I “mastered” baby life, I took a break from the books. Now that we’ve had our third child, I’ve returned to...
Postpartum Communication: How to Better Understand a New Mom
The immediate weeks following baby’s birth are beautiful, life-altering, and exhausting.
After my third wonderfully healthy baby was born, there were fewer surprises but no less work, especially with his two older siblings in...
Required for Motherhood: A Rich Fantasy Life
I lead a rich fantasy life.
Mom Life requires it. When the day seems an endless cycle of clean-up, kitchen prep, and bathroom misadventures, I need to be able to check out. And the...
Pregnancy Myth Busted: It’s Not Like Running a Marathon, It’s Harder
It’s marathon time in Des Moines and many motivated individuals are getting ready for the main event, a 26.2-mile course featuring some of the city’s finest fall scenery. A year ago, I was one...
My Favorite Summer Fails
Labor Day is upon us. Summer, that magical time of freedom and possibility, is over. And somehow, yet again, the massive to-do list I developed before Memorial Day is frighteningly incomplete.
Rather than dwell...
Privacy, Please: Why I Don’t Do Social Media
Now that summer is here, social media is teeming with images of happy kids exploring their favorite season, parents enjoying and lamenting the challenge of family travel, and heat wave-inspired rants. There are pictures...
Des Moines Summer Reading Programs
Before the road trips and family reunions, between camps and around the long-delayed dentist appointments, is a summertime lull. Many local attractions can help fill these few unplanned moments. But there is one magical...
To the Moms Before Me: I’m Sorry
Moms, I owe you an apology.
You, my friends and family members who became mothers before I did, who grappled and groaned with child-rearing before I could even imagine it, deserve my honesty. You...
Kindergarten Conundrum: A Quest for Education Perfection
I’ve fallen down a parenting rabbit hole. No, that’s not true. I’ve voluntarily jumped headfirst down this particular rabbit hole, with only a vague understanding of the shadowy end I’m hoping to find: the...