The Story behind the Nickel Jar

If you’re here looking to find a how-to guide, picture-perfect Pinterest mom blog, with color-coded chaos that somehow looks peaceful… this ain’t it!

This space grew out of something much messier — a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants, trial-by-fire kind of journey that lived somewhere between crocodile tears alone in my car, one-too-many tense school meetings, and a realistic come-to-Jesus talk or two with myself asking, “What now?”

Born (somewhat) out of selfish necessity and a touch of loneliness, I was searching for a place that felt familiar — a space where I could feel validated, seen, and heard, and maybe even glean a little wisdom along the way. I found pieces of that in different corners of the internet, but so much of it felt sterile or just wasn’t my vibe. I wanted something warm, inviting, comforting — something that felt like a real conversation on a comfy living room couch, not a checklist or a Sunday sermon.

The idea came to me during a significantly turbulent season as we trudged through our search for answers for Eli, our littlest love, and the alphabet soup of diagnoses that flooded in for years: dyslexia, ADHD, autism, BIF, and a few others that sound more clinical than human.

Somewhere along the way, I realized that every experience, every hard conversation, every tearful car ride, and every small victory was like a nickel in my jar — maybe not much on its own, but when you start collecting them, they tell a story. Our story.

That story has grown far beyond evaluations and IEPs. It’s been about learning to see the world differently — through Eli’s eyes, through my role as a mom, and through the unfiltered chaos of life that doesn’t pause for any of it. It’s about showing up, advocating, laughing at the absurd, and finding grace in the mess.

It’s navigating the world of special education — the good, the hard, and the “you seriously can’t make this $h!+ up” moments. It’s the humor and heart of raising two wildly different boys. It’s the everyday stuff — marriage, work, adulting, and all the beautiful, complicated pieces that make up a life.

I don’t have all the answers (spoiler: no one does). But I do have some pretty fun stories, a few sound lessons learned, and hopefully, a handful of moments that make you nod anlong and think, “Yep. Same, same.”

So, pull up a chair, grab a coffee, and stay awhile. This jar is open — a space for all the nickels of life: the funny, the frustrating, the beautiful, and the real.

Susan