When you’re not sure what comes next

Thumbnail image for When you’re not sure what comes next November 9, 2011

The back yard looks like a place where toy cars come to die.

Fall in all its beauty is dying too.
I sit outside with the baby girl in her socks and me in the sneakers that aren’t quite on properly because we rushed outside to try and catch some of the late afternoon light before it [...]

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How to feel productive on your most unproductive days

Thumbnail image for How to feel productive on your most unproductive days November 7, 2011

When he tells me his head hurts and my stroking it doesn’t help, I know he’s sick for real and not just for sympathy. His younger brother and sister are just emerging from the fever and croup he’s headed into. It’s Saturday and the US Marine museum outing has been traded for Netflix, mama’s bed, [...]

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Because children are in the eye of the beholder

Thumbnail image for Because children are in the eye of the beholder November 2, 2011

He’s wearing nothing but the blue camo underroos when he comes running at me.

I barely have time to brace before all that stocky, nearly-four-year-old life slams into my knees. Amazing, to be missed like this.
Today he asks me to wave from the door while he chops down that oak tree in the front yard. The [...]

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Things our parents could have told us about parenting

Thumbnail image for Things our parents could have told us about parenting October 26, 2011

How heavy a baby is.
How that tiny, new human being can cripple a back with endless nights of swaying and leaning and crouching over a crib to listen to her breathe. They could have mentioned the ache you’d feel at the pit of your heart when she smiles or burps or rolls over.
Perhaps they could [...]

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Because parenting is an exercise in adapting to change

Thumbnail image for Because parenting is an exercise in adapting to change October 24, 2011

The boys know our block well and, like homing pigeons, once we hit it they fly the rest of the way. I see their new khaki pants patched etched against the sky – smudges of speed and delight at the sound of their own hammering feet and hearts and breath racing the sidewalk home.
A passing [...]

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Five Minute Friday: Beyond

Thumbnail image for Five Minute Friday: Beyond October 21, 2011

On Fridays around these parts we stop, drop, and write.
We write bold and beautiful and free. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.
Won’t you join us?
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join [...]

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Sacrifice, Sanctification, and Scrubbing Toilets {An interview in which I admit random stuff}

Thumbnail image for Sacrifice, Sanctification, and Scrubbing Toilets {An interview in which I admit random stuff} October 17, 2011

Have you heard of the Nester’s 31 Days series? She’s done it for three years now each October. This year over 700 people are participating. I know, right?
I am not one of them.
I wasn’t brave enough to commit to 31 days of posts in a row.
But today I’m psyched to be participating at least a [...]

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How to see nothing routine about your routine

Thumbnail image for How to see nothing routine about your routine October 5, 2011

All the dishes get done even if all the laundry doesn’t. I wipe down that table top that wobbles on four legs that have been loosely unhinged ever since we had boys. Paper towel and hand smooth over the old paint splotches that won’t come off and the scratches that no one admits to making.
My [...]

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I want my kids to know I was more than their mom

Thumbnail image for I want my kids to know I was more than their mom September 29, 2011

I want my kids to know me.

Not some perfect version of me. And not just the mommy side either.
I want them to know how much I loved books and what a great kisser I thought their dad was. I want them to know that like my mom before me, a favorite thing to do was [...]

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Five Minute Friday: Growing

Thumbnail image for Five Minute Friday: Growing September 23, 2011

We write for five minutes flat on Fridays.
We write bold and beautiful and free. Unscripted and unedited. We just write without worrying if it’s just write or not.
Won’t you join us?
1. Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
2. Link back here and invite others to join in.
3. Go [...]

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