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 …
We have a life light, shining outward from the soul- that compels us, in different ways and through various methods, to move forward. Beyond. That insists we “keep-on-keeping-on”. That urges us to place one foot in front of the other and move into the future. That causes us to not stand idle for longer than …
If anyone had told me three years ago I would be teaching kindergarten, I would have politely laughed at them. If anyone had told me three years ago I would be teaching kindergarten, and one of my students would be my charming little M.A., I would have (politely) laughed at them and then high-tailed it …
Why do Mom’s cookies, eaten straight up from the cookie jar, taste best when indulged as a bedtime snack? Gingersnaps, rolled in sugar. Pressed with the hand, perhaps and then baked to perfection. These sitting on this mahogany table, tempting me until I cannot resist, have crackles like tiny rivers running randomly across their golden …
The moon is high over head, and the picnic table is illuminated by a citronella candle in lieu of the campfire we are without. Forest fires have been spreading across other parts of the country, and the intense outside temperatures heating the air are such tonight that even a flicker of flame caught on a …
A dear ‘stay-at-home mama’ friend of mine wrote her Facebook status today on ‘being present’. She briefly addressed the fact that she is with her children daily, but she is not always present with them. In this update, she vowed to be more present and ‘in the moment’ than she had failed to be in …
As I pen words, it is a dreary, soaking-wet, rain-drenched evening outside my sitting room window. We are all drying ourselves out after a torrential down-pour just moments ago, occurring just as we made a run for it from the van to the front steps. This onslaught also occurring after we all had walked through …
My “adopted” mother was an elegant woman with immaculate nails and gorgeous ebony skin. She and her father lived in a neighborhood on the far side of town where they owned a little piece of land that boasted lush flower gardens and a bountiful vegetable garden. I came to live with Alice when I was …
Four little girls are snug as bugs in a rug under blankets and surrounded by pillows on my living room floor. They are eating me out of house and home, and what they don’t eat will go in the cupboard for Daddy’s late night snacks. They are watching Mr. Popper’s Penguins. Every once in a …
They urgently run in the door looking for cousins. No formal greetings made, there are games waiting to be played and stories to share. Some gather in the T.V. room and get sidetracked with a show while others rush outside to the swings. Two wait impatiently for a game of Risk, two go upstairs to …
While eating lunch with a friend the other day, the topic of spring cleaning and yard work came up in conversation. I listened as she told me all the chores she had accomplished outside over the weekend, silently creating for myself a to-do list that might start to scratch the surface of jobs badly needing …