21 things my daughters need to see me do (often): My daughters need to see me apologize when I’ve truly, honestly messed up. To my husband, to my friends and, yep, to my kids. They also need to see me: Hold out- and push for- a real apology when someone else has really, truly messed up. (And thoroughly eradicate “no worries” from my vocabulary as an automatic argument-ender when there should legit be some “worries.”) (Stop saying/posting/pre-empting potentially upsetting/important conversations {Read More}
#ThisIsNine (Or, a “new glasses” story)
January 17, 2019 By Leave a Comment
I don’t write about Nora as much as I used to anymore. A huge part of embracing that whole #ThisIsNine hashtag comes part n’ parcel of what “nine” actually means. Nine is fierce loyalty, intense emotions, and a both-hands-gripped nostalgia for toys we both kinda/sorta know are on their [slow] way out. #ThisIsNine… …Is also tentative requests for more privacy, more autonomy, and more respect. I miss writing about Nora as much as I used to. Since the day she {Read More}
5 things I now know about boys. (A 5th birthday story.)
December 20, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Jasper, my beamish boy, you just turned 5. Before you came along, I had not birthed anyone even remotely male. (It’s true.) Since then, I’ve been a big ol’ vocal opponent of gendered anything, insisting that boys and girls are exactly the same, and fighting any “all boys do xyz” myths. And since then, I’ve come around to realize that sometimes the things people say about boys are the undeniable truth. Such as… Boys are all about bodily functions There’s {Read More}
I remember being so afraid. (A birthday story.)
November 1, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Nora Jane, You are now nine years-old. Nine, if you’re not aware, is a bonkers age. (For me, mainly. I’m sure you’re perfectly fine with it.) I remember nine. I remember arranging my prized collection of porcelain dolls by height and dress and general interest- you know, the collection you inherited and now arrange by height and dress and general interest? I remember watching ‘Quantum Leap’ (a wholly brand-new show) with your Pop and how both of us agreed it {Read More}
You Are. (A love letter to Susannah Mae.)
October 4, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Oh my Susannah sunshine. You are so much (and getting so much more by the day). And on this day, this awesome day… You are a hand on the hip, an eye roll comedic enough to keep you out of trouble, and a muttered aside that Vaudeville would’ve killed for. You are first in line for the mechanical bull– and a bolstering crossing of yourself followed by a whispered, “You’ve got this.” (And you did. And, in that moment, you {Read More}
September feelings and missing my kids.
September 13, 2018 By 2 Comments
Happy September! I’ve missed you, friends! (And, to be honest, I’ve missed me-as-blogger. Which makes this summer’s experiment a success!) There’s so much- and so many feelings- to catch you up on. Let’s start with: Oh, September. First days of school make me maudlin. Not because I get all “where did my babies goooo” (which I sometimes do), but because it reminds me of all of the moments that have blown by and all of the moments that’ll blow by {Read More}
Today. (A story of love & sunshine, not in that order.)
April 12, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Today. Today I was going to do work. Real work. A lot of real work. (The kind that pays real money.) I was also going to clean. A lot. For absolutely no money whatsoever. But then. The sun came out. And the temps leapfrogged into the low 70s. (For the first time in eight hundred million years.) And Jasper asked me to go to the park. (And he’ll only be four years old for about seventeen more seconds.) It’ll snow {Read More}
Jasper’s book review of “The Giving Tree” (is everything you need)
March 22, 2018 By Leave a Comment
Book time with Jasper The following is an unedited transcript of my four year-old son’s take on Shel Silverstein’s book ‘The Giving Tree.’ Total weep-fest, right? HA. Not if your third kid is a honey badger/chaos monkey. That’s a joke. All third kids are. That said, I will never, ever dissuade my kids from reading, talking about reading, and generally immersing themselves in a love of reading. (Even if they don’t always get the story arc one hundred percent correct.) {Read More}
