When I started homeschooling, I was told that I’d be likely to confront my own issues at an unprecedented level. While the idea seemed strange to me, it’s proved very true. Moving to the woods made me suspect the same thing would happen, and while I’ve not been caught off guard this time, it’s certainly not any easier.
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Changing Seasons
Change is on the march, whether I like it or not. It’s rising, and I can see it, feel it, and taste it. It’s not just saying goodbye (yet again) to another piece of my grandma, though her hands were still warm in mine. It’s not just planning to leave the city either, though that’s a big part of it too. It just feels like the earth is shifting a bit, and we’re all scrambling to find our footing. Or maybe it’s just me.
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Community, resentment, and connecting the dots
Stumbling across The BadAssMama Chronicles site yesterday got me thinking. In particular, this post about resenting changes hit home, and I started connecting the dots between some things that have been swirling around in my head lately. Community, and how it works (or not) in today’s society. Resentment and frustration (mine particularly) and what’s been causing it. More things that came to me in the shower this morning, and I hope come back before I’m done writing. I’m not the only one who thinks best in the shower, am I? Of ships and trees and translucent boys
The sun was warm, the company good, the wine perfectly sweet. Soaking up family … both my own, and my own. Where I come from, and what we’re creating. Heritage, progeny. Talk of family trees and ancestors, mixed with the barefoot patter of my boys as they hunted for eggs.
Milestones pass, kicked up by the flying feet of my children
My DOV turned 10 this weekend. Firstborn, long-limbed and crazy and beautiful. How did this happen? How did you make me into a mother, and I not even notice? Ten years of mothering tangled under my feet, and wrapped around my heart. Things Seen, Heard, and Mused Upon ...
If you’ve wandered the web today, you likely came across some black-out sites. Self-censored in protest of the SOPA and PIPA legislation currently before the US congress, which will end up allowing censorship of the web (among other things) if it goes through. Please check it out, and do something if you can.
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I saw Pina last night, a 3D movie about the choreographer Pina Bausch. I knew nothing about her prior to going, other than seeing the trailer several times. It was beautiful, full of raw emotional dance that was almost painful to watch. I loved it, but was a bit unsettled by it.
The Choices I’ve Made (by Bridget S.)
I am frustrated and have no one to blame but myself, which let’s face it, is just, well, frustrating. Do you see the circles my mind runs in? Let me explain: I want to be light and happy. After all, I’m living the dream right? I have three great kids, kids that I chose to have. I live in Los Angeles, a city that I love and chose to come to live in. I am pursuing a career in writing because I feel compelled to do so, yes, but on some level I’m choosing to do it. Short of a husband who adores me and supports me both emotionally as well as financially, I’ve got it all. But you see, this is where I’m running into trouble.Q of the Week : What's your personality type?
Off the deck of our hideaway this weekend … I had a great weekend. Away from home and boys and peed-upon-toilet seats, in green hills with great friends, it was bliss. I’ll recap it elsewhere to keep this Question short, but it involved a long whitewater rafting trip which I thoroughly enjoyed and am still aching from. The funny thing was at least 4 of the 6 of us in the boat were Type A personalities, a lovely combination when shouting paddling instructions in the middle of a set of rapids!
If you’re not familiar with the A/B/C/D method of categorizing folks, the details are here, and I’ve included brief summaries below, courtesy of M.Farouk Radwan, MSc. It’s a very general way of looking at things, but fun and sometimes handy if you end up clashing with a friend. We got along well this weekend though, despite ourselves!
Breathe Coaching deadline approaching ...
Just a quick reminder mamas, Heather’s Breathe : Group Coaching for Moms signup deadline is this coming Friday the 29th … get your mojo on and give it a whirl if you’re anywhere near Baltimore! Deets here, hope you can make it!
Happy Easter and Passover too, may your weekend be a relaxing one :).
Finishing up the week ...
Shipping Anchor, a painting based on my older son, by my husbandThere is nothing finished about parenting. No days where everything is done, no moments when you stop being a mom, no time when your memory isn’t stuffed with bits and pieces of parenting and birthing and whining and smiles and worries and epiphanies. They say don’t sweat the small stuff, and yet that’s the very fabric of life, isn’t it? The sweat glues all the little threads together, keeping us somewhat intact. Confessions of a Mommy Playgroup Reject (by Jenny Heitz)
Image courtesy of Joe Shlabotnik via FlickrIt’s been almost ten years since my daughter was born, and a lot has happened. But, one of the things that still stands out for me from the early days of motherhood is my first experience with a playgroup.
Motherhood did not come easily to me. I was 33 when Anna was born (the first of my friends to have a baby), and I ended up with some bad post partum depression. I didn’t really emerge from my hopeless depressive fog until about six months had passed. At that point, Anna was a very cute, tiny, and crabby baby who seemed to need a lot of stimuli. So, I took her to one of those Mommy and Me type classes in West Hollywood.
Reinventing Myself After Baby #2 (By Christina S.)
Photo courtesy of CarynNL via Flickr
How I Went From Working Mom to Stay-At-Home Mom to Writer/Mom
I love the term “reinventing oneself.” It’s full of possibilities. It can mean a new wardrobe, a new haircut or something more profound, like a big life change.
For me, reinventing myself came out of necessity after I abruptly quit my corporate job when I was eight months pregnant with my second child. Burned out, exhausted, stressed and running myself into the ground, I decided to call it quits.