real, raw motherhood
My dear daughter, Here we are, about to end our second year of homeschooling. We found our groove this year, and, for the most part, we’ve had fun learning together. I’m happy it is still a good fit for our family. I know you sometimes long to go to “regular school”. You see children playing…
We just started on a journey. We’ll be away from home for nine weeks, traveling the world to teach seminars. It is quite a privilege and we don’t take it for granted. Preparing for such an adventure involves a fair amount of stress yet I managed better than ever and even completed all the packing…
The key to happiness is the acceptance of now. We can learn from the past and plan; we can hope for the future and dream but if we don’t choose to be content with our present, we can never be happy. Regardless of what our circumstances are, happiness is our choice. We don’t have to…
I was sitting on the couch. Content. Happy. It was such a good feeling. I am not the naturally bubbly and cheerful type: my nickname in High School was Grouchy Smurph so I pondered the cause of this sudden upturn in my disposition. My circumstances had not changed. Could it simply the “right time” of…
My husband and I own and operate a martial arts business together: he creates programs and teaches; I’m in charge of management. My office is a room in our home. No commute and flexible hours: it’s a good deal. When our daughter was born, I knew that I wanted to be home to raise her.…
It’s been a rough morning. One of those mornings, when my daughter decides that she doesn’t want to do what I ask her to do (in this case, read a page from her early reader) and I have no patience to deal with it. One of those mornings when everything gets mixed up in my…
Last Wednesday, I started my Mommy day off with a wonderful yoga class. Afterwards I hopped in the car to grab lunch. I was stopped at a red light when I heard a loud crashing noise. Looking in my rearview mirror, I saw a girl and her moped trapped under a van. She was on…
I’m at the mall, staring at my phone’s screen and all I want to do is lay my head on the table, close my eyes and rest for a while. I waited too long to have breakfast. It was a close call but a few bites of croissant averted the meltdown. (I also bought a…
She’s dead.The woman who birthed me and raised me but couldn’t love me.The woman who should have been my safe place but wasn’t; who should have been my refuge but will never ever be. She’s dead.The woman who was my world when I was a child but couldn’t make space for me in hers.The woman…
I will be 41 next week. Some people dread getting older. I don’t. I’ve been blessed with another year of living; breathing; feeling; loving. I don’t begrudge the deeper lines on my forehead nor the multiplying gray strands that stand out in my dark hair because the alternative is really not that appealing, wouldn’t you…