My lawn and I have a lot in common. We both have struggled over the past several years, and we both require a lot of maintenance to thrive. When we first moved into this home that we fully renovated on the inside, there was no lawn. There were dozens – hundreds? – of baby oak…
relationships
On not going to my 20-year college reunion
Since it was a relief when I finally decided I would not go to my 20-year college reunion, it’s a surprise to feel so emotional about it now that it’s happening. About a month ago, I check to see if the friends I most wanted to see were going. Most weren’t. A few of them…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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….
How to do only one thing at a time: a work in progress
I’m a lucky woman. I get to do a lot of cool things. This morning, I got to take my kids to their great public school, an Expeditionary Learning school, where children start every day Monday through Thursday with a morning meeting and start every Friday with a community meeting. I love that they see…
On nostalgia and novels
It was a throwback week. And a week of looking ahead. Nearly three months after we were supposed to get together for coffee but got thwarted by a health issue followed by travel and a book launch (not mine), my high school friend and thriller author Allison Leotta (nee Harnisch) and I finally had lunch,…
Prelude to Thanksgiving
It occurs to me when facing certain social situations that I’m still nursing a soap opera hangover from age eight when I learned how to talk to people by watching “General Hospital.” It wasn’t pretty. No one on that show is nice, unless for pretend, to get something. Everyone judges. The snappier an insult you…
I don’t have a village
Welcome to the May 2012 Carnival of Natural Parenting: Parenting With or Without Extended 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 how relatives help or hinder their parenting. Please read to the end to…
A weekend of holistic health and blogging
A tale of two conferences I’ve had a split personality this weekend. Much of my time has been spent at the wonderful blogging conference, Blogalicious. Since I first arrived at the conference Friday morning, I’ve met great people, caught up with friends, and learned a ton about social media and media resources in general. A…
10-Day Yoga Challenge: Day Nine: “Play”
It didn’t take me long to get off my game. I finished class #8 of my 10-day Yoga Challenge at 8:00 p.m. on Friday night and spent Saturday virtually yoga-free, except for one sun salutation in the morning. When I finally returned today at 4:00 p.m., it felt at the start like that 44-hour break…
10-day Yoga Challenge: Day Four: “Surrender”
“Rest your shoulder blades on the back of your heart,” the teacher said. But what if the heart is tender? “Surrender,” she said later, in what felt at once like a welcoming to take a breather and at the same time, almost a dare. Am I capable of surrendering? Can I ever not try so…
When a friend gets cancer
I didn’t even know what the term lymphedema meant when Susan Niebur of Toddler Planet blog told me she was working out a deal to have compression sleeves made available to women who can’t afford them. I hadn’t ever met Susan, but I knew she was in a rough place with a recurrence of cancer;…
Feelin’ the Holistic Moms love
What a surprise I got tonight when my Holistic Moms co-leaders and members presented me with flowers and a (gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, refined-sugar-free) cake at our monthly meeting! We decided not to do a huge anniversary party again this year after last year’s blow out, and I wasn’t really missing all the stress! But they…
Generosity of Peers
Tell people that you might need help, and they come through! This has nothing to do with my last post about mood blues, which aimed to say that no one can help me but me. No, I’m talking about offers from other mamas to help out with my son this summer, when I’m expecting baby…
Shopping cart etiquette
This post originally appeared on August 5, 2009 on DC Metro Moms Shopping cart etiquette I hope I didn’t just shame my friend at IKEA. It was a rainy Sunday morning, getting busier by the minute. Long gone was the relative quiet we enjoyed within minutes of our 10:15 a.m. arrival. The sight of so…
Surviving the unexpected guest
This post originally appeared on DC Metro Moms on March 19, 2009 Surviving the unexpected guest I’ve never been much for spontaneity. Or hospitality. I’m not proud of being a crappy hostess or an anxious mess when things don’t go according to plan, but I can accept that it’s okay because there are other things…