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 are T-minus zero to bedtime. I am so ready for this. Then one of the rug-rats hollers from the T.V. room, “Daddy promised we could have a game of ‘Hide-and-Go-Seek.’ In the dark. He promised!” He promised, did he? Was his head connected to the rest of his body when these shady deals were …
Last November, we had a vehicle accident that left our van totalled. Our four precious children were on board, along with my mother and father. As a result of this unfortunate event, we were in the market for a new van to replace Ole’ Bessy who ended up in the junk yard. Bless her soul. …
Who I am is enough. For now. And I say this first and foremost. The rest will follow as it may. I am under the table wiping up crumbs. While I clean, I talk to Husband, who is wiping counters. I talk about my troubles with Daughter Number One. She has been extraordinarily moody of …
As a secondary piece to that last post, I thought I would follow up with what happened next…after the E/N/T specialist appointment. As I had been given the information that there was a problem, somewhere in THERE- just not necessarily with my voice box and vocal chords primarily, I left thinking that I might need …
What do you do when your livelihood- your means of employment- is wrecking your body? I am sitting in Dr. Camphos office waiting to see him for the first time ever. He is an ENT- Ear/Nose/Throat specialist. I look around the room, and see an ad stuck up on the wall behind me for Botox. …
If you want pure, unadulterated honesty- the kind of honesty that will bring you to your knees or send you into fits of laughter, step inside a Kindergarten classroom. The concept was invented for four and five-year olds. I had a student once who shared with me what her mother wore to bed at night. …
How to teach appreciation? I am at a loss, by times… Second-Youngest Daughter came home from school today and mentioned, in an off-hand way, that she had shared her lunch with one of the boys in her Grade 3 class who had only had a bag of Cheesies stashed away inside his lunchbag. When Husband …
I love a rainy day. Those days spent inside four sturdy walls, cozily tucked away from the demands of the outside world- contentedly busy with life within. And when life within is peaceful, there is no place I’d rather be. Than here. Home. I have thought a lot lately about joy and purpose and living …
I like to think I am intelligent, thoughtful, curious, bright. But today, I realized that even those who think they are the smart ones have a little foolish going on. For starters. I have not yet been able to remember and sort out the right names for the seven students in my room. That’s right- …
We are in spiral down mode. Life as it could be, as it should be, has disintegrated to become life as we now know it: disastrous. Another typical supper hour at the Gard household. One child has exercised her right to blow out her vocal chords at the ripe old age of five. They should …
There are moments upon moments when I feel pulled in ten different directions and the elastic band that holds my soul, snaps. And when that happens, I just have to laugh at myself. Soul exposed. Transparency at its very best. Or worst. I am making beds. At 9:15 p.m., to be precise. What is the …