What full circle looks like

Thumbnail image for What full circle looks like September 13, 2011

Fifteen years ago I stood in the same place I stood last night. I was 21 and about to fall for the Midwestern boy with the green eyes who was trying to steal third base. Spring on the Washington DC mall – it was a cherry blossom love story. I couldn’t have known. I couldn’t have known [...]

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For when the walls are closing in

Thumbnail image for For when the walls are closing in September 6, 2011

He comes to find me in the dark. Eyes squinted against my bedside lamp, he whispers, “Mama. Mama I gotta be by you.” Bad dreams and hot summer nights drive him out of his bed, down the hallway and into mine. And I, I who crave space like oxygen at the end of some days, [...]

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Balancing the happy ending

Thumbnail image for Balancing the happy ending September 5, 2011

The lovers in movies kiss in shades of intimate sunset. Wind and light and time stand still for them. Their moments are filled with space to breathe and exhale and savor. They hold hands. They look long and deep into the insides of each other’s eyes to interpret what lingers there. They read one another [...]

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How to love a mean kid

Thumbnail image for How to love a mean kid August 22, 2011

Jackson didn’t invite the mean boy in his class to his birthday party. He wanted to. He took the invitation to school. He put it in the boy’s cubby. But when I came to pick him up later the white envelope and “Come Kick with me at my Tae Kwon Do” party invitation were back [...]

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The surprising place that ugly sometimes comes from

Thumbnail image for The surprising place that ugly sometimes comes from August 10, 2011

We’re talking about beauty this week. And as I sit and watch my oldest-about-to-turn-six-year-old son at Tae Kwon Do all lean and long, lithe graceful limbs – this strong, man of a boy – an image of him as a newborn superimposes itself on the Jackson I see before me. Suddenly I’m back in a [...]

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How to spot the extra in {the every day} ordinary

Thumbnail image for How to spot the extra in {the every day} ordinary August 4, 2011

I’m home. I’m full. And even though it was 4am when I finally stumbled tired suitcase in the door of our little white house to find that sleeping baby girl and wrap myself around her, I made it home and that’s all that matters. Travel is fun and wonderful even when it’s exhausting. To me, [...]

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How to hard wire a memory into your six-year-old

Thumbnail image for How to hard wire a memory into your six-year-old July 11, 2011

My dad bounces along with Jackson on the back of an open Land rover. We’ve spent the day with elephants, meerkats, cheetahs and an assortment of snakes. The wind blows our chapped cheeks in this dry winter sunshine and our hair will be hard to untangle tonight. We are dirty, disheveled and so full of [...]

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A boy and his dreams

Thumbnail image for A boy and his dreams July 4, 2011

He’s wearing his red pajamas with the puppy print and chasing the dog from room to room as determinedly as the dog chases her own tail. As if by the sheer volume of his voice and desperate pitch of his pleading she will condescend to sit next to him for more than five tantalizing minutes. [...]

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Why motherhood shouldn’t be graded on a curve

Thumbnail image for Why motherhood shouldn’t be graded on a curve May 26, 2011

In the last week alone I have ordered food from the McDonald’s drive through window, paid for the food, and then driven off without it. I have taken the highway I can drive in my sleep in the wrong direction and had to go all the way to the airport to turn around. I have [...]

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For when you’re tempted to just lose it with your kids

Thumbnail image for For when you’re tempted to just lose it with your kids May 11, 2011

The bacon sizzles hot and fat in the pan. The microwave sings alongside and dust motes dance in the sun along my window frames. Me and the house exhale loudly. The morning tornado of boys has been safely delivered to preschool, the baby is sleeping and other than Kenny Chesney on the radio I’m alone [...]

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