This afternoon was pretty only with respect to the weather. The rest of it had lots of ugly moments, and buckets of tears from my five-year-old. No, I didn’t do yoga with my kids today, and we didn’t meditate together before bed or anything like that. But I did hold on to the imagined beauty…
organization
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…
Home is where too much of your head is
This, a gorgeous fall day, was my last full day visiting family. A few weeks ago, a local mom I barely know let me stay in her apartment so that I could start work in earnest on my novel. Whenever I get out of my comfort zone, I always find that I breathe differently, appreciate…
My child is my mirror – January Carnival of Natural Parenting
Welcome to the January Carnival of Natural Parenting: Learning from children 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 the many lessons their children have taught them. Please read to the end to find a list…
Consumer confession
Bless me, Earth Mother, for I have sinned. To cut to the chase, I drove a full 22 minutes on a perfectly gorgeous sunny autumn day to buy a bucket of plastic toys. Virgin plastic. $29.99. Lots of petroleum. Bad precedent. I know, it’s not pretty. So why did I fall so hard? It’s complicated….
The thrill is gone — from messy to neat and back again
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on June 11, 2009 The thrill is gone — from messy to neat and back again For the first week we were trying to sell our house, it was kind of a game to keep it clean. How fast can I wipe up that spill? Neatness was that…
A room of my own?
Nothing is for sure yet, but we are moving in the direction of buying a larger home not far from our house. There are a lot of reasons I’m excited about this and crossing my fingers that it happens without us losing our shirts on two mortgages or unexpected repairs/upgrades (“might as well before we…
Train them young to be stay-at-home dads
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on December 27, 2008 Train them young to be stay-at-home dads I know that it’s ridiculous in this economy to say that I didn’t want my husband to find another job right away, but it’s true. He’s been a consultant working on a contract basis for a…
Clearing the Clutter
My son finally has a room with a bed, no longer a double futon on the floor that takes up half the room. I am finally feeling like a grown-up parent. Here is his room now moving clockwise. All that’s left is perhaps some work on the walls — art or shelving — and curtains…
People who live in houses with smudged glass doors should do some cleaning
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on November 13, 2008 People who live in houses with smudged glass doors should do some cleaning When I brought out a spray bottle of Parsley Plus to wipe off our patio table during playgroup, my son nearly outed me as having a housecleaner. “That’s for Selma,”…
Just Like in the Books – Boy Gets a Bed
This photo is artistically rendered to obscure both my son’s face and my husband’s thinning hair. (btw, the masthead on this blog is a similarly altered-in-Picasa chunk of a photo of my son’s mouth and nose. Can you tell from the hyperpink in this bedroom rendering?) The heartwarming scene depicted here is of a father…
Celebrating changes, looking ahead
Around here, we are finally feeling ready for a big purge and reorganization. There is too much stuff, and we’re ready to simplify. In some cases, the stuff we will toss (or recycle, or Freecycle, or sell) just doesn’t reflect how we live anymore. I keep thinking that once I get rid of all the…
Chasing sleep and a room of one’s own
Naps are hard to find around here these days. My son has just turned two and a half, and he’s not napping about 60% of the time. This might not be such a big deal if I hadn’t failed to teach him how to fall asleep on his own or to stay in one place…