I’m more my mother’s daughter than I’ve let myself believe since her death—I just needed for my daughter to show me. It’s close to 10pm, and I’m ignoring the article I need to finish writing and the dinner dishes Jenga-stacked next to the sink to stand at the kitchen counter and hot glue pieces of […]
America treats its mothers like shit. This Sunday, families across America will be celebrating Mother’s Day. I will be doing the same, gathering with my own mother, my mother-in-law, my children. But this year, I can’t quite settle into it the way I usually do. Something doesn’t sit right with me. To put it simply: […]
Kids are capable of making realistic connections whether we use a protective narrative with them or not. Once, before my husband finally sold his small, 40-year-old, spit-and-tape sealed sailboat, we considered joining a yacht club at our local lake. An acquaintance who was a member invited us to a party at the club so we […]
My mom has never come out and told me I’m selfish, not directly. But my way is definitely not her way. I love my Mom and continue to discover how wise she is the older I get. That said, I don’t know how she ran her house with a husband who traveled three weeks out […]
All that floats from my breath when I think of you, blowing kisses into the wind, are thank yous. Dear Mom: If you were still here to sit with me and listen to a litany of everything I should have understood about us long, long ago, I would tell you so many things. I would […]
We weren’t raised with constant hugs and kisses, but our kids are, and perhaps that’s the insurance we pay to guarantee them a happier, less neurotic future in an increasingly chaotic world. My daughter snuggles in for a cuddle with me several times a day, particularly in the morning before leaving for school (she’s in […]
An on-site village will always be ideal for new parents wondering who and where they are on the other side of delivery. But the Internet doesn’t have to be a poor substitution. On my first day alone with our newborn daughter, I considered begging my husband to quit his job. We had only lived in […]
I’m glad books are a part of our bedtime ritual, but sometimes, I just want the ritual part to be over so Mom’s happyhourbedtime can begin. I love awards. I love the shiny gleam of trophies and medals. I love seeing my name printed on a piece of paper that says “well done!” I’ve racked […]
