I feel strongly compelled to write about an issue that is hitting me square between the jaw, as I am a mother of three young girls as well as a teacher who interacts with girls of many different ages each and every day. Body image. It is something that young girls begin thinking about as …
I am eight. Maybe nine. We are playing, my little friends and I, on a snowdrift at school. For lack of sleds and toboggans, we are using our snow pants as sliding apparatuses. One goes down the slope, and then the other. It’s a cool, crisp winter day. And soon, it’s my turn again. I …
Some of my most real writing- the most vulnerable, transparent material I write, comes from an experience in which I mess up royally and then learn a few lessons in the process. Yesterday was one of those days. But first: I don’t want my life or any of the lives in which I am in …
Board games were invented with the sole purpose of driving parents crazy. (This parent, that is. I won’t speak for the rest of the world.) As if I wasn’t there (…in crazy world) already. It’s Friday night. I just played a game of Book Lover’s Memory Match with my two youngest- a game meant to …
If you are wondering, you probably don’t have to worry. You are doing just fine. In fact, you are doing better than fine. You’re rocking this gig. Trust your instincts. Believe in yourself. You’re a great Mama. I get impatient with people who make comments about parents saying things like, “I think they are a …
We’re driving. The road, a seemingly endless stretch of gray in front of us. There’s certainly not much to see on either side. And I am bemoaning to the Boy the fact that all the leaves have fallen off the trees. It had been so pretty, I say to him, just a week or so …
I am scraping out the innards of a huge spaghetti squash with a spoon. Yellow fibers and white seeds accumulate in a soft pile on my cutting board. I work purposefully- around and around. The more I scrape, the easier I can see the pale yellowish sides of this fleshy melon-shaped gourd. It is cathartic, …
A hug takes but a second. But that is hard for a big brother to understand, let alone tolerate. And she is tormenting him. Mercilessly. Arms wrapped around his waist in a vice-grip. He allows her for but a moment longer, and then I can see that he’s had enough. He says something smart- words …
Gratitude: it’s a matter of the heart. I could speak of the day. Gorgeous, crisp autumn chill. Leaves pattern the dying grass. Down a heritage road, I can see for a mile a canopy of tree branches laden down with hues of gold, crimson, burnt orange: deep and rich. Air pungent with earthy undertones. The …
{I have been feeling it all week- like a balloon expanding far past its limit. It pushes on my chest and squeezes my lungs. Stress. Anxiety. Tension. It is eating away at me from the inside out. I was able to hide it at first, putting my game face on to face the world. But …
I take it all in. The sky, with bits of pink and grey- strips of color extended across the remains of the day. We head for home- trying to beat the moon. The last One’s bike freezes up. Something about the front brakes- and I’m no bike technician. So while the others push for home, …
Sometimes one just needs to start where they are. A few years ago, I was dealing with some mysterious health issues. I was having trouble with my stomach. Having trouble with my skin. My respiratory system. My mental health. I was having trouble– and thus feeling in general like I was ten years older than …