We are sitting in circular formation, teaching colleagues, acquaintances and friends. The atmosphere is warm and inviting. Soft lights sparkle on a tree over against the wall. And we wait. In anticipation. Our facilitator directs everyone’s attention to the meeting at hand and then asks us to introduce ourselves. A discussion begins as to what …
Love isn’t love. Until you give it away. She leans in to talk to me, dark eyes sparkling. A beauty of a girl. I ask her what she has planned for the rest of the weekend. And then, her face lights up. And she tells me that she is going to see her son as …
Summer heat, haze of humidity presses down. I am sitting on the porch swing. It is August, and I have escaped to get a break from the children, from the craziness going inside the house. I settle in with a good read, or so I hope. And occasionally, I look up from my book to …
I am standing in front of him, my fists clenched. I feel frustration in every pore, every cell. My blood pressure is on the rise. Pulsating. Throbbing. Everything is crashing down around me, and I feel the weight of the world on my shoulders. Sometimes a day just seems to bring more than one has …
I think I just might need to start getting more creative with my overall life organizational skills as well as with my child-rearing methods, as my status updates are becoming increasingly redundant (a.k.a ‘kids fight, I scream, exhaustion sets in, sanity starts slipping…’) Here is part of what I wrote as my blog update last …
What you are about to read is my tale about a series of today’s unfortunate events. Hang on. This just might make you dizzy. (Good luck) Last night, I asked Brian to pick up some meat at the Co-op for supper tonight. Darling husband that he is, he came home with some pork-chops which were …
I feel discouragement tonight covering me like a dark, heavy cloak. This has been one of those days of joy-less mothering. Of difficult parenting. Of challenging discussions. Of battered emotions and low self- efficacy. Of wondering ‘what if’ and ‘how come.’ Of hopelessness. And just now, as I sit and contemplate where I am with …
Most of our conversations these days are had in snippets- across the kitchen counter as supper meal is in preparation, inside the van en route to one activity or another. Or carried out with me at one end of the dining room table and him at the other, conversing whilst we sit down to another …
Sometimes all the patience is sucked out, like a Hoover that tirelessly lives up to its brand. Or perhaps like my new LG- promising that life will be good when you use the label. But when air is emptied from within, like a sucker punch to the gut, and all patience, understanding, joy and hope …
An open letter to teachers, care-givers and parents of spirited children everywhere: Dear Caregiver, I am sorry my child lay on the floor today and refused to participate in your class. I also apologize that she further disregarded your implicit instructions pertaining to scheduled activities, not to mention more than once did exactly the opposite …
I have a friend who chooses to stay at home in spite of the fact that all her children are now in elementary school. She was a former professional, prior to the birth of her children. But following the birth of her second last child, she decided she no longer feels called to work outside …
As a mom, I feel pressure to capture and preserve every waking moment of my four children’s lives. To photograph, video-tape, blog, anecdote; to keep a baby calendar, baby-record book, family scrapbook, and personal diary; to Facebook, Pinterest, Tweet and Instagram for the love of my children; and to do things the old-fashioned way: write …