Nothing can prepare you for parenting quite like reading parenting blogs. Here, you’ll find my field notes from the front lines of parenting: the wonderful, the awful and the downright terrible. I tell it like it is. Parenting isn’t always a picnic, but I wouldn’t trade this job for anything. Anything. My girls fill my heart with their laughter, and soothe my frayed nerves with one slobbery kiss or sweaty hug. I don’t think it helps anyone to sugar coat the trials of parenting, but I also don’t think it helps to do nothing but whine. Sure, we all need to vent, but it’s just not fair to your kids if every post about them is negative. They’ll read this someday, you know. So, I hope you can find comfort, inspiration, commiseration and above all, a community within these blog posts.
The Autism Post
I’ve written about nearly every topic under the sun on this blog. Light stuff. Heavy stuff. In-between stuff. But there’s one thing I haven’t written about. (I have on this blog’s Facebook Page, but not as an actual blog post.) And that is my 8-year-old daughter’s autism. I used to say her “autism diagnosis,” but that’s… Continue Reading
Mothering Like Fruit Crisp
“You should open a dessert stand! You’re the best cooker.” My two daughters sat devouring their berry crisp, their short hair a mess, their ever-longer legs dangling from the bench seat at the kitchen table. A blueberry/strawberry/crumbly mess gathered at the edges of their stuffed mouths. Was this thrown-together dessert really that good? To them,… Continue Reading
Love, Labor
The contractions hit harder and faster than I imagined. This couldn’t be the real deal, though. While I’d been dilated and effaced for weeks, with an induction scheduled the next morning, I didn’t let myself believe this was actual labor. After all, I’d had two false alarms before, and I knew they’d just send me… Continue Reading
Time is Drawing Near
The wee hours of the morning. That delicate span of time when either you’ve stayed up very late, or gotten up very early. My husband is the latter. He leans to kiss me in bed, my hour tousled unattractively against my pillow. I tell him I love him, words spoken through my lisp-inducing mouthpiece used to prevent… Continue Reading
She’s Becoming Who I Never Thought She’d Be
Brave. Not a word I would have used to describe my oldest daughter only six months ago. With a mental disposition much like me, I feared she would follow in my anxiety-laced footsteps. Her fear made me fearful. My nerves made her nervous. We’re a sometimes-challenging duo, her and I. You see, I don’t want… Continue Reading
A Boy to Dance With
As our small town’s annual Fall Fest approached, my 31-year-old mind slipped back a few years and I was reminded of the insecure adolescent I used to be. Awkwardly tall and skinny, I wasn’t exactly the most sought-after girl on the dating scene. Also considering I’m related to half the population, my choices for potential… Continue Reading
You’re Ready, Big Girl. You’re So Ready.
Hey baby, it’s mommy. You can’t hear me right now. You’re sound asleep in your bed, Frances the bear tucked under your arm. You had a hard time falling asleep tonight, and I can’t blame you. You’re a little nervous. Mommy is too. Tomorrow is your big day. The day you start Kindergarten. I can… Continue Reading
24 Seconds, 24 Hours, 24 Years
Last night was a doozie. One of those evenings where every button is pushed, and by the end, every hair is pulled out. Tempers flared. Words hissed. Patience broke. My youngest has been particularly difficult lately. Every other word is spoken as a whine, and when all 42 pounds of her 3-year-old body decide… Continue Reading
Shut Up…Your Mother Is Speaking.
Sometimes, internal voices happen outside my mind. Words are spoken, and received by my ears, rather than merely bubbling up in my brain. Who do these words belong to? Me. But not me. Both a better version…and a worse one. The proverbial devil and angel. The cartoon characters dressed in red and white perched atop… Continue Reading
You’re Dang Right Momma Loves Her Body
Patterns, habits and long-term environments mold so much of who we are, but I’m convinced simple little encounters are powerful enough to change our outcome–for better or worse. Like this morning. As I was stepping out of the shower and scurrying to the bedroom to get dressed on time, my 4-year-old daughter made a comical… Continue Reading