real, raw motherhood
As a kid, I was not naturally organized or orderly. I remember my mom telling me more than once: “I don’t want to see your house when you grow up and how messy it’s going to be!” (Well mom, you got your wish!). Once I became a teenager, I craved order more. In the closet,…
A little about me: I was born in Reunion Island, a French state off the coast of Africa. I became an American citizen after meeting my now husband and moving to the USA 22 years ago. I have a bachelor’s degree in German Linguistics and History and I have lived in Germany, the South of…
Edited to add: The governor of Hawaii announced beaches and parks to re-open for exercise purposes on 04/25/20! 👏🏽 Recently, via one of the Mom groups I belong to on Facebook, I listened to an interview of Gayle Ruzicka, President of Utah Eagle Forum. There was a mention of this article which inspired me to…
Our daughter turned ten in January. Ten seemed a good age to start asking her to be more responsible, especially with her chores. Getting her to do them is not too difficult. Most days they do get done. Getting her to do them well and efficiently, that’s another story. She is famous for taking extra…
Last November, our daughter went for a walk with our neighbor and their chocolate lab, Maverick. She came back carrying a white cat she had found on the sidewalk. The cat didn’t seem to mind. We took him to the vet who scanned his chip and forwarded our contact info to the registered owners. The…
Once upon a time on a far away island, a woman’s screams echoed in a hospital bedroom as she labored to birth her second child. During her entire pregnancy, she had wished for a boy. When the nurse presented her with her second daughter, she was surprised and disappointed. She hadn’t even thought of a…
I have shared quite a bit about everything good that has happened since I started taking anti-depressants. My life has changed because I have changed: in the way I act and relate to the people surrounding me; in the way, I react to circumstances as they arise. I have never been happier. There is one…
I want to do that mommy! We were leaving the library and she had just noticed a flyer advertising a youth triathlon. When I brought my tiny baby girl home from the hospital almost 10 years ago, I couldn’t imagine then that triathlon was going to become a part of our lives. I had not…
My baby will be 10 in just a couple of weeks. 10 years old! A two-digit number! Since 18 is the legal adult age, we are now officially past the half way point of parenting our child. Judging by how fast the past 10 years have gone by, I can tell the next 8 will…
Here it is. 2020. A new year. A new decade.To say I am excited is an understatement. For the first time of my adult life, I feel healthy, vibrant, full of energy, happy. It’s as if I’m living someone else’s life. In a sense, I am: in so many ways, I have become someone else.Who…