real, raw motherhood
It’s close to midnight in Sydney, Australia, where we just spent two weeks. We’ve been flying towards Honolulu a good 6 hours now. Three more to go. Our daughter is sleeping on my lap. The keyboard is propped up on a blanket and a pillow. My phone (on which I write) rests against her inflatable…
I’m going on a date tonight. He’s handsome. 6 foot 1. Lean. Muscular. Jet black hair and hazel eyes. He has full pink lips, and great big hands. It was almost love at first sight and 19 years of marriage have not curbed the appeal. Lucky me. We haven’t been out, just the two of…
We just finished listening to the audiobook version of Pollyanna by Eleanor H Porter. I was familiar with the name but knew nothing of the story. This title wasn’t even on our reading list but my daughter stumbled upon it in our Kindle app and, out of curiosity, pressed the start button. She came to…
There was a crazy lady in my laundry room the other day. She was yelling and frantically moving about the small space. She pushed past my husband and shoved him against the wall, then proceeded to take our soaking wet clothes out of the washing machine while mumbling angry words under her breath. It was…
To my friend who’s turning 40 and might struggle a bit with the idea… Lean in, I’ve got a secret to tell you: “I’ve been on the other side for a year now and it’s great! Promised! You’ve got this sister. I know it.” 40 comes with a special super power: the ability to see…
Before we left for our 9-week trip back in May, I had made a deal with our daughter: when she finished the three workbooks I was bringing along, she would be promoted to 2nd grade. I calculated that she needed to complete only three pages a day to make it happen. Since we were traveling…
There are only two sure things in life: death and taxes. Most of us are painfully aware of taxes and plan carefully around them, yet most of us turn a blind eye to our mortality. We live as if we were eternal. We spend our days as if they were unlimited. Death has been on…
I’m in Saint Leu, a small beach town on the west coast of Reunion island. My friends are treating us to a weekend in an oceanfront villa. The sun is shining. Palms trees sway in the gentle breeze, bright green against the cloudless sky. A sliver of white moon winks at me. A golden dragonfly…
I received a mean text message a few days ago. It took me quite by surprise as it came from someone I liked; someone I thought liked me; so much so that my first reaction was to think it was a joke. My reply asked just that: is it a joke? Unfortunately it wasn’t. The…
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…