Kids

I like sleep. I like spending hours reading books, alone, in perfect quiet, in a pool of sunlight on a late winter afternoon. I like a clean and tidy house. I like to eat food while it is still hot. I like clean clothes. I like to brush and style my hair in more than […]

The thing is, we wonder all the time if we’re doing this motherhood thing right. Every night once the kids are in bed I try to ignore the annoying voice in my head that screeches through the list of things I should have done better. Every night. I can’t seem to turn it off. Especially […]

Because during almost every family photo session, I encounter a mother’s apology for her kids “acting out.” It seems as if receiving cards every December donned with perfect grins and matching outfits has skewed everyone’s perception of what’s really going on behind the lens. I see these “flaws” as an opportunity to comfort the parents, play with the kids, and attempt to capture through the camera the thing that we are all loving and hating and trying to celebrate all at the same time – childhood. It’s slipping through your motherly fingers as you comb through his little strands of hair. The jittery feet will soon be stilled by maturity and self-awareness. The squeals of excitement will soon be replaced by more subdued tones and passive comments.

I can promise you one thing – these bursts of energy, the inability to hold still and smile, won’t last forever.

The impermanence of it all is what should grip us. Not the temporary frustration.

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 […]

We are the sum total of our stories. So when we sit down at the computer and open a vein we offer life to someone else. We pour out what we’ve learned or failed to learn as a lifeline to someone else. We offer our stories across computer screens, transfusion-like. On Wednesday morning I re-live […]

Remember that one time I told you I was going to do a podcast with Tsh from Simple Mom? And you all sent fun question ideas? Well, it happened and you can listen along with us as I talk about my middle name, why I don’t think I’m cool enough to be a “Rachel” and […]