When my son was little, I lost natural hair color over stressing about his day at school. I don’t know if his initial school experience was typical or not, as he is my only boy, and I merely have his one experience to go on. But, I am starting to think it might be. Although …
My baby turned six today. Happy birthday, M.A. You bundle of energy, you ball of fire. You, my own little spitfire. I love you to the moon and back. Who would’ve ever thought we would get this far, intact. Intact being the key word here, and don’t think I don’t mean it. Intact, with most …
That moment. When you feel so very, very horrible. And all because you have left your middlest child at the rink, waiting for the better part of an hour because you had no way to get in touch with her. And all because you were driving from Point A to Point B to Point C …
I succumbed to new depths of misery today, in the form of the after-school ski program. I literally, no word of a lie, pulled Littlest One up three cross-country ski- hills, most of which while holding both her poles and mine. And the only music to my ears was her incessant wailing, I mean full-out …
I am home today. Which is to say, I am not at work. Which is to say, I feel like a slacker. So. When one is home, as I myself have now discovered. There are a few things that sometimes occur. Sometimes large brown security trucks arrive unannounced in your driveway, with the unspoken expectation …
Sometimes. A body just needs to know. To feel. A mother’s love. To know that she is there. That she’s within arm’s length, when storylines get dark, ominous, sinister. That she is only a whisper away. When the plot thickens to a portentous climax. When the theatrics prove a bit too much to take. One …
Whomever. Mistakenly claimed that ‘storm days are fun.’ Did not have the exquisite pleasure of living with a bevy of kidlets as is my distinctive delight. Two storm days back-to-back, and I am more exhausted and wrung out now than I was Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. I now know why some animals eat their …
It is minus 13 without the wind-chill factored in. My bronchial tubes tell me it is too cold to be doing this: setting off down the winding lane for an evening skate on the river. The frigid air bites nastily at my nose, seeps cold air deep down into my lungs. We trudge through foot-high …
I am steering the van towards after-school destination numero deux in project “My Life as a Chauffer.” A tired Kindergartener rides solo in the backseat, a motley assortment of Foodland bags/backpacks/other odds and ends ride shotgun in the passenger side. And all the while, Veggie Tales blares in the background. One male character says to …
Me: “Students, what are mammals?” Students: “They’re those animals on the movie Madagascar.” ****************** Me:(after a not so quiet, Quiet Time) “Students, do you know the meaning of the word “still” ? Female Student (using a very loud voice): “NO!!!!!! I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT MEANS????!!!” No, dear. I don’t reckon you do. And… …
Solitude. Not loneliness of which I speak. Not isolation, nor seclusion. Neither separation, segregation, emptiness. Rather. The peaceful equilibrium without. That quiet moment spent. In prayer. In supplication, meditation, reflection. In contemplative thought. Tranquil moments that restore the soul within. Returning the body to its truest nature, a relaxed state of being. Reinstating the mind …
Little voices, tiny hands. Baby hair still wisps, framing round faces. Wide-eyed. They move, and squirm, roll and tumble. And I try to quiet them, but they are alive with energy. Full of life. We read on the blue rug, I’ll Love You Forever. As I begin to form words on the tongue, I can …