While the birds and bees are busy buzzing around the countryside reminding us all of springtime flings hither and yon, I am drawn to listen carefully to conversations about kissing and puberty and other such exciting topics for mothers to eavesdrop in on. Nature is not the only expression of growing up and falling in …
A half year ago, we bought tickets to attend the Prince County Exhibition. As part of the tour of the grounds, our family went inside the small animal’s barn. We all looked into each pen, yelling with shrieks of delight over each new exhibit. The kids called out excited exclamations to each other when a …
Another day, another inner struggle to find joy amidst the rubble of the stuff from which we build our stories . Stories that tell of who we are. What we are. What we want to become. My story: I want to find joy, and oft I have tried to claim it. I have even chosen …
I wake up before 6:00 a.m. to a child stealing my pillow and a husband snoring. Happy Mother’s Day, 2012. I crawl out of bed to ready for the day of festivities…birthday present openings and birthday breakfast for the ten-year old, phone calls, church, dinner out, visits with family, church again, lesson planning for tomorrow, …
Not long ago, a friend mailed me a letter that contained two sheets of paper. On one sheet, was an article titled The Meanest Mother in the World, and on the other was the letter writer’s note to me which can be summarized with this one sentence: “Nice to know that being ‘mean’ is not …
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 …
Just a note…some of this is a re-print from an earlier blog I wrote, and some of it are new thoughts I had on the same subject that I wanted to add on! Feel free to comment… My daughter and I sit on her bed. We have just finished reading her two bedtime stories, her …
Saturday morning, chore day. There is a to-do list as long as my arm, and I am trying to decide where to begin. The girls had a sleepover the night before, and the boys are attending a Men’s Breakfast. I relish a few precious minutes to sit, think and read before the rush. An hour …
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 …
Rushing, always rushing. I grab a bag of snacks and wait impatiently the three minutes it takes the corn to pop. My oldest daughter opens the side door of our house and hollers that one child is pulling another’s hair inside the van. It will be an all-out brawl if I don’t get out there. …
She is finally asleep, that little ball of energy, my spitfire. A half-dozen times, I have lost count now, my baby girl calls for me to do one thing or the other, always stalling for time. It is a battle, sleep does not come easy for her. I hear nothing for a glorious stretch of …
My mother and I were talking on the phone last night, and I moved from room to room doing my “end-of-the-evening” tidy up. As it was time for my son’s bedtime, I went in to his room to say goodnight and tuck him in, all while I had the phone neatly perched in between my …