When I was a teacher, I considered spring break a reprieve from grading and early morning wake-ups and dealing with adolescent angst in 120 flavors. But now that I am a mom with school-aged children, spring “break” is a misnomer. It is a week when I feel the weight of responsibility of keeping to a…
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Traffic choked the cherry tree
After my last post whined about the tough time I’ve been having, I really intended to write something more uplifting the following day when I was feeling better. My friend who has been teaching herself energy medicine did a phone consult with me that really turned things around Thursday night. The biggest issue she identified…
Special Needs Mommy
You know that kid who’s always a handful at a playdate? The one who needs an extra eye at a birthday party? The one who can’t handle surprises, or who needs lots of support through transitions? The one who can’t tolerate the smell at the farm field trip no matter how many times the teacher…
The writing process: always in process
As a mother of two young children, my writing process is something that shifts greatly from day to day, week to week, month to month, depending on deadlines, health, and the number of spontaneous snow days that throw a wrinkle into work life and creativity. When Karen of TimeCrafted put out a call to other…
Finding space for moving pieces
I appreciate that parenting is an amazing opportunity for personal growth, but I kind of feel like my psyche is about to explode. I can’t say that it’s my brain, because that would imply a boast about smartifying, which I’m decidedly not. And I can’t say that it’s my heart exactly, because it’s not the…
Getting my children – and myself – outside
With a background in environmental education and an avowed interest in connecting to nature, you’d think my children would be outside all the time. Well, at least I’d like to think that I could have little adventure explorers who would never ask to watch anything on a screen. Not so. I blame it partly on…
Happier at home … by staying at home?
The more I channeled Happier at Home author Gretchen Rubin this morning, straightening up and dealing with clutter, the more I started thinking about ditching the chance to see her speak tonight. Talk about shooting the messenger. She didn’t exactly say the words “don’t do anything that doesn’t make you feel joyful” in what I read…
One person’s happiness is … musings on marriage
Hearing about someone else’s marital problems is a guilty pleasure, but only until it becomes cause for envy. In her new book, Happier at Home, Gretchen Rubin shares the little things that bother her about her husband Jamie (who must be a really good sport to put up with this public laundry-airing). I liked hearing…
Under a January sky: Welcoming 2014
It didn’t look like it was going to go well, this New Year’s Day. I had been eating pancakes all morning (sugar-free and GF but not GAPS-legal) and was wearing the world’s frumpiest sweatpant/pajama combo. My daughter was reaching up to the counter to help herself to the sausage she didn’t eat at breakfast while…
Longest month ever: November illnesses befuddle
It feels like about 90 days since I woke on November 1 with the intention of blogging every day for NaBloPoMo and working on my novel every day for NaNoWriMo. I made it three days for sure (maybe more that I didn’t tag!) had some great and productive mornings, but I have also been sidelined…
City mouse, country mouse, suburban mom
It’s been a lifelong desire of mine to live many different existences at one time. I wanted to be a jet-setting child actress and also live a life of quiet contemptation from my perch in the treehouse. I wanted to be a busy, driven academic and also a party girl. Today, I want to be…
The importance of laughter
This post is part of the first Humor in Parenting (and Breastfeeding!) Blog Carnival inspired by the anthology Have Milk, Will Travel: Adventures in Breastfeeding, a collection edited by Rachel Epp Buller and published by Demeter Press in August 2013. The anthology looks at the lighter side of nursing. All of its contributors found something…
Glimpses of fall
Today I was too busy noticing fall and being with my kids to write, and tonight I was too busy prepping for Tuesday’s blog carnival on humor in parenting. So here are a few images of a still November day in Northern Virginia.
A day at home
I’d have loved to jet off to my first yoga class in 8 months or just go somewhere to write, or have my husband take my kids out for the morning or the afternoon. But I had cranberries and apples to use and a chicken to cook, so instead we made pie, and two kinds…
What does “vacation” look like?
When you’re a parent, vacation seems like two four-letter words. If you have taken one recently, I’m not sure I can handle hearing about it. But tell me anyway. I have a friend who recently posted on Facebook a screen shot of her phone texting with a friend about what they should take to New…
The floor that broke the Corelle plate — Musings on so many sick days
This is what I wrote at 6:15 a.m. and expected to post at 7:50 a.m. once both kids were on their way to school with their dad. It’s now 9:13 p.m. I guess that didn’t happen. But here goes nothin’. *** I’m taking bLOG literally here, as in log. As in, I want to document…
Food as family medicine: living gluten-free and beyond
Welcome to the November 2013 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Feeding Your Family This post was written for inclusion in the monthly Carnival of Natural Parenting hosted by Hobo Mama and Code Name: Mama. This month our participants have shared recipes, stories, and advice about food and eating. Please read to the end to find a…
Early morning hours
The goal this year was to get up by 5:30 a.m. to exercise, do yoga, and get centered for the day before starting on breakfast to get the kids out the door at 7:45. That went great, until I broke my toe, and then my daughter got sick. I rebooted with waking early to write…
Why didn’t I think of that? Grandma saves 1/72 of the day!
It might be said that I had a perfectly fine day, parenting the children alone from 9 to 5 on a Sunday. Except that I appear to have gained 5 pounds from stress-eating and might have let my children’s eyeballs get singed by TV and computer screens. At least it was from gorging on Mr….
A weekend of many possibilities
For nearly a year, I assumed I’d be out of town tonight. I would either be at the National Women’s Studies Association national conference, hosted this year by my alma mater, the University of Cincinnati. It would have been a reunion of sorts, and I’d have had the chance to talk to people about the…