
Children will eat you alive. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Hey. You two. With the lovey-dovey nicknames and hands that seem magnetized to each other’s backsides. I have a bit of news for you. Right now, you’re enjoying the freedom of youth and childlessness. As you should be. Live it up. Live it up now.
Because someday, you’ll be just like me. Maybe not within the next five years, but probably within the next ten. No? You think you’re so different? You think you will forge a different path to parentdom? Maybe. But I doubt it. Few get by unscathed. If you think parenting is as hip as the celebs make it look in that glossy magazine you’re reading, then you’d better find out a way to get rich real quick.
Soon enough, you’ll be the …

Moms, some days it’s hard to let ourselves be loved exactly how we are. We think he must be up to something when he shows affection. How could he possibly be attracted to this? Doesn’t he see these dark circles? Doesn’t he feel the extra pounds I’ve put on? When we reject ourselves, we can end up rejecting others without even realizing it.
You wonder why I wonder
Why you’re staring at me
When I look in the mirror
I don’t see what you see
I see a tired mother
You see a grown-up girl
I see an empty shell
You see your whole world
I rarely put on makeup
You hardly seem to mind
I stress and fret and fuss
You just want me to unwind
I worry that you’ll …

It seems innocent enough on the outside…
I have to admit I’ve been a little, well, anxious lately. Try as I may to control it on my own, it’s been tough. After all, exposing your heart and soul to the elements can be a little stressful. Throw a three-year-old and one-year-old on top of that, and the other day-to-day tasks that still have to get done (laundry, cooking, cleaning, shopping, laundry, laundry, and more laundry) and it’s a little heavy on my chest.So, it was a relief last night to have a good, hearty laugh. No anxiety medication comes close to what laughter (and a good massage) can cure. Now, it probably wouldn’t have been funny if the age of my sense of humor matched my biological age. You see, I laugh at things an …

I’m positive that it’s negative. (Not my actual test, don’t worry.)
First of all, there’s something I’d like to say to pregnancy test manufacturers: WHY ARE YOUR PACKAGES SO DANG HARD TO OPEN?! I mean, really, can’t you give us a little tab to pull or perforation to tear? Why does that plastic have to be sealed so tightly without even the slightest bubble under which to slip our nail and tear the stupid thing open? Because when you take a pregnancy test, you’re a little on edge, no matter what you want the outcome to be. Is this some male packaging engineer’s idea of a sick joke? “Let’s make ’em scramble a bit before they find out if their life’s about to change…forever! Muahahaha…”
Ok, now that I’ve gotten that rant out of the way, …
I love this man. (Photo courtesy of CLG Photography.)
Sweat trickled down the middle of my back, and popped up in beads on my brow. The storm door smacked shut behind me as I traveled in and out of the house, arms stuffed with the day’s gathering. Cool. Hot! Cool. Hot! Cool. Hot! I lingered a bit in the air conditioned kitchen before heading out for the next haul. Unloading groceries in a 110 degree heat wave is a tiring chore, but hubs and I were making good time.
As he heaved in two five-gallon water jugs, one in each hand, I marveled at his brute strength. It’s one of our many differences that I appreciate. Some of our other differences, though, have made the already difficult road of marriage and child-rearing a bit …
If I ever said I couldn’t wait for my daughter to get a little bit more independent, I take it back. If I ever said I can’t wait until she’s (insert age here) so she’s a little less emotional, I take it all back. All of the milestones I celebrated and encouraged, I wish they’d taken longer to happen. She just turned three, and yet her development has gone into double-time. I can still feel the smoothness of the top her infant head on my cheek as I rocked her so many nights ago. I can still see the hilarious faces she used to make when she yawned as a wrinkly, squawking newborn. She is wonderful. And beautiful. And she’s ours. I delight in seeing her make new discoveries. But someone, please make it stop! …