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,…
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…
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…
The older I get, the faster time goes, or so it seems. Another year is over. I’m one of those people who sets goals in preparation for a new year but before I plan for the future, I like to reflect on the past. Christmas, my favorite time of year with spirits high and moods…
I went to Yoga Sculpt this morning. Before the class started, the teacher shared about her life-long struggle with acceptance: feeling acceptance from others and of course, more importantly, from herself. At the end of class, she invited us to look for opportunities to feel radical acceptance. I liked the ring of that. Most people…
Who else loves the holiday season?I’m a big fan. Thanksgiving is an American holiday that I discovered only after getting married and I never got to celebrate Christmas as a kid, since I grew up in a Muslim household. Even before we became parents, my husband and I made a big deal of the holidays.We…