Having spent much of my adult life as a teacher (and all of my childhood as a student), I tend to measure time in school-years. Continue reading Another Year Done (Two Poems for the End of the School Year)
Reflections of a mom learning to witness her fears: I had a feeling going into this game Friday night that we might not come out on the winning side, and I was worried. Continue reading Losing, Fear, and Personal Power
I hope you know how important you are. I want you to know how much you are appreciated. You’ve shrugged it off before (the compliment) like, it’s just your job, just your day to day. But I have seen you soothe the most frantic children, your voice calm and your loving grip never loosening even as you take tiny fists and feet to the face. Continue reading Dear Preschool Teachers, With Love
Standing in my bathroom, I peer down at the flesh protruding over the top of my athletic shorts. It looks like a dimpled loaf of unbaked bread, or maybe a doubled-over baguette. Whitish and smooth, it rises as I breathe. I poke at it, and it jiggles a bit. As if it thinks itself to be Jolly. Continue reading Bellyfat
The thing about kids is that you don’t need a license or certification or even good intentions in order to have one. You just do this (rather animalistic) act and then -BOOM- less than a year later you are the proud owner of a fragile, flailing, extremely loud, real, live human…innately designed to scream the moment you close your eyes or sit down with a hot cup of coffee. Sure, there’s care and feeding instructions out there, but the disclaimer on every one is that if you get it wrong you will mess them up for life. Continue reading Now What? (parenting without the manual)
Here’s to the mamas
who sniffed the necks of their newborn babies and those who
could finally stop pacing when the adoption papers came through. Continue reading To all the Mamas (a toast)
I’ll be honest: I have been having a hard time. The weather is turning springtime: the sun is shining, the leaves are fluttering green and fresh, grass is being mowed, birds are wooing and cooing, but I am stuck in my head – in a place of negativity, anxiety, and doubt. Continue reading Love Note From Nature
The juxtaposition of being a fragile human and a strong parent has never been more intense than this moment, during these times of global anxiety and local restraint. My children are young enough that they deserve to reside in the soft web of innocence a little longer. As parents, we are the weavers of this ethereal web, our sleight of hand holding the chaos at bay. These fibers become more tenuous each year, as our children’s arms and legs grow longer and their eyes begin to see farther into the truths of the world. Continue reading On wearing the Mom Suit
I hoped this mysterious mountain hike would offer my son some respite from the monotony of home and the pressures of eLearning. What it ultimately gave him was much more powerful than that. Continue reading Up and Down the Mountain
Waking up Razzle-Dazzle 