For my daily handful of random blog visitors, you will see that I haven’t written in a while. Was it the Blizzard of 2011, or the February flu doldrums, or challenging times at home, or all of it? I don’t know. Quite frankly, February has been a blur and I’m grateful that it’s almost over.… Continue reading And suddenly things go “pouf”
This past week has blown so many holes in my belief that I have things under control, or that life follows some sense of order. It has taken very little for me to feel depleted, and here I thought I was so resourced. The stress of potty training our boys combined with the daily corralling… Continue reading Skating on thin ice
Question #1: When is the best time to start potty training? _ 18 months _ Between 2.5 and 3.5 years _ When they show the telltale readiness signs _ When they don’t make diapers in your kid’s size anymore _ All of the above Question #2: What’s the best approach? _ Gradually introducing more and… Continue reading Potty training is like a multiple choice exam
As a result of a combination of my personality and my childhood, I have an overly developed sense of responsibility. This is both a curse and a blessing as a mother. I’m pretty sure I’m not a “helicopter mom”, but I do err on the side of caution when it comes to my kids. Over… Continue reading If Pavlov had experimented with mothers
…it would go something like this: Activities: Answer a million questions per day to the best of your knowledge, but at a toddler’s intellectual level; try to save “I don’t know” for only the toughest ones (don’t get lazy!). Count to 1 or 2, but if necessary be prepared to count to 3 and follow… Continue reading If I had to write my own job description…
Somewhere in between, or floating above, the layers of responsibility of each day is the thin but taut layer of emotion. Some days it’s stable, at a comfortable distance, and not intrusive. Other days it is constantly changing positions; we hit our heads on it, then suddenly we’re bouncing up and down on it. And… Continue reading Check those emotions at the first sound of the alarm
Through my personal research on motherhood in the United States, I’ve come to agree with Susan Maushart and something she says in her book “The Mask of Motherhood”: “…we devote more care to the licensing of automobile drivers than we do to preparing adults for parenthood. It’s a point worth pondering. Limiting our education for… Continue reading Parenting vs. learning to drive
Those were my husband’s wise words to describe this morning. Mind you, neither of us have a heroin addiction, just for the record. But if we did, or if we were attached to any other less lethal vice that helped us get through the day – and I’m not saying we are – today’s morning… Continue reading A bad day to quit heroin
I had to make a choice this morning. My cold from about a week ago has stubbornly stuck around and not improved, so I had to finally accept that I have a sinus infection – again. Originally on the schedule for this morning was a prospective parents tour at our kids’ school, and I was… Continue reading The dizzy test
Today is one of those days where every step feels heavy. Something is always blocking my path. The snowy boots on the towels positioned in front of the dishwasher. Kids. My own dirty glasses, or my unwieldy hair. Every step and turn feels effortful – not tiring, not painful, just slow and hard, as though… Continue reading Getting in my own way
