“Sugar is a bigger deal for you than gluten,” concluded my doctor as she perfomed muscle-testing on me. A chiropractic neurologist, she was very happy with my progress since my first visit back in October, 10 months ago. At that appointment, I was weepy and not very hopeful. Plus my son was clingy and grabby,…
Ani the Mami and Indigo Women
My husband was really trying to do something nice. In fact, he was trying to do exactly what I said I wanted: take initiative to get us out together as a couple. And he was thoughtful about it, purchasing Indigo Girls tickets after a drive in a borrowed car to the beach in Maine had…
Gluten-Free Casein-Free Pie Crust
“I’d given up on pie until I tasted yours,” said my friend S, who recently went gluten-free and dairy-free. I think she’s exaggerating, but I admit I was pleasantly surprised to taste the GFCF strawberry-rhubarb pie I made when we gathered at her parents’ lakehouse with three other families from our Bradley childbirth class. Yes,…
Who wears short shorts?
It’s time to show my knees again. A year ago, last July 4th, a trip to a friend’s pool pushed my skin irritation over the edge. The dermatologist had called it likely psoriasis, and my knees were red, itchy and flaky. It was getting bad on its own, and I was already embarrassed to wear…
Size 2? Try 2T
I’ve always been small. Usually the smallest in my class until I was twelve, when for a brief period I even had an edge over a few classmates, even some boys. But then I just stopped growing. And I wasn’t the kind of athletic small that would make me good at gymnastics or anything. Truth…
What bruise?
“What did you give him?” This was my friend’s question after she saw my two-year-old son a few days after her son rolled a rock down a slide onto my boy’s head. There was hardly a mark on my son where we both expected a goose-egg or at least some royal shades of blue. First…
How Tired Are You?
The way I talk about my sleep with other moms reminds me of being in 7th grade, or in college. A friend saw a message I sent late last night to a group, around 2 a.m. As we gathered for a craft day at next year’s preschool – about eight hours later – I admitted…
Drinkin’ and a-Runnin’
Who knew that May 31st was the day before June 1st? When my friend’s husband asked if I was available to come to a surprise birthday party for her, I didn’t put it together that the half-marathon I’d just registered for was the following morning, Sunday, at 7:00 a.m. – a hour away. We talked…
Babysitting Bliss
When someone else’s child is in bed, this mama mouse gets to play in her head. I love babysitting. After bedtime, that is. I wrote recently about not particularly enjoying helping out friends during waking hours. It’s true that as my son gets older, he and his age-mates are better able to entertain each other….
Tired for the Very First Time
It was like I’d forgotten what it meant to be sleepy. I wrote a few weeks agoabout trying to see sleep as the gentle restorative time it’s supposed to be rather than the time I’m not getting things done – cleaning, cooking, writing, exercising. That was all a nice idea, but I was still pretty…
I’m not that woman
You know her — the one who says offers, Sure, she can drop by some (insert grocery item here) when you just happen to mention being out and in a bind. And of course it would be no problem to come over and watch your child while you cook or clean for the in-laws that…
Getting the Groove Back
Back in August, I sprained my ankle two weeks before I was going to run a half-marathon (what would have been my longest race). It’s been a long recovery that I’ll write about from various perspectives in the future. What I’m feeling good about right now is that I am starting to imagine exercise being…
So Many Words
I really had no idea what this whole blogosphere was about before I became a mom. What are all these people doing thinking they are so important that other people want to read about their lives? During my pregnancy, I joined a few Yahoo groups — DC Expectant Moms and a group for BirthCare, the…
Flower essences and trauma
I’ve been taking a class recently on using flower essences with infants and children. I’ll go further into my experience with them in the past once I merge it in my head with the more detailed info I’m learning. For now, I want to highlight Emergency Trauma Solution by Perelandra (available online only). I’ve given…
My name is…What?
“Look, Mommy! Look! Jessica! Jessica!” My son has taken to calling me by my first name if I don’t respond to my parental moniker when he’s called it out two or three times. My ears perk up and I realize I was ignoring my darling little boy for eight seconds. Yesterday I left him asleep…
Busy mouths
A hickey, a buzz, chocolate and babysitting all in one night. Sounds like high school. But it was really my husband’s 37th birthday. And he wasn’t the one to give me the hickey. Even though it was his special day, I decided to hand the toddler over to my husband so I could go for…
Sleep is not an adversary
When I decided to undertake a cleanse and make some changes in my diet, I also set out to change my sleeping habits. My natural tendency has always been that of a night owl, even when, as now, I’ve been without caffeine. For the past several months, I had been in the habit of staying…
Food + JH = TruLv4Evr
I usually try to avoid using the word “change.” It implies that there is something bad or wrong, and it doesn’t provide a vision the way a more descriptive, active verb would. And yet, when I tell people I’m doing something of a cleanse, the phrase I keep coming back to is, “I want to…
Introduction
“No one in my family has food allergies, so I’m not worried about starting the baby on solids in any special way.” I’ve heard lots of well-meaning mamas utter these words with a shrug. On one hand, I admire their faith that everything will work out okay. Optimism and hope can go a long way….
Boy, Meet Your Penis
I thought it was cute when my 23-month-old son tugged on his male member and said, several times in a row, “Hi, Penis.” I thought it was funny when he pointed to his father’s post shower noodle and labeled, like he does so many other objects, “Penis.” I did not think it was as funny,…