Oh, Finley, you are 3 years old today. It sounds so trite, but I just don’t even know how that’s possible. You, more than either of your sisters, have grown up in the blended community of real life and online. This keyboard is so much a part of how I explored the months with you [...]
Thursday, March 31, 2011
You only have your first once. Briar was my storybook first—a glorious pregnancy, no family awkwardness, late summer into fall home-with-baby rapture. Six and a half years and 2 daughters later, her firstness gets eclipsed be her being the eldest. She is pushed hard, punished longer and coddled less. It is unfair and seemingly unavoidable. I [...]
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
I know she came from me, but since that day she has so far surpassed me. I delight in her every detail, there is not a contour upon her face that does not steal my breath. The way she wrinkles her nose and sends her face sideways, the brush of her dark lower lashes against [...]
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
She likes purses, particularly dainty, expensive, rarely-used-by-me clutches. When asked what her doll or stuffed animal is named she says, without fail, “She’s sassy.” People say, “Sassy? That’s her name?” and she grins, nods emphatically and says, “Yes, just Sassy.” I’ve tried to understand what it is that has allowed her to slip under my skin [...]
Sunday, February 6, 2011
The supportive murmurs of, “Perfect enough,” “Considering all you do…” and “They won’t remember” hit me and then slid right down, landing in an unhelpful puddle at my feet. I’m not trying to please my kids, my husband or society. I have an internal barometer of what’s ok that cannot be quieted. Not unlike [...]
Monday, January 17, 2011
We were merrily passing through the day when it occurred to me that I should be doing something more than directing activities, interrupting melees, and wiping counters, butts and tears. I looked up a video of the I Have a Dream speech and proceeded to watch it with the girls on my laptop. Being that [...]
Monday, November 22, 2010
A holiday is nearly upon us. The school days are fragmented, the to-do lists are mounting. Nerves are frazzled, errands are crippling, relatives are arriving. Forget the trimmings, forget the details, remember just this: The butterfly counts not months but moments, and has time enough. Rabindranath Tagore Revel in your moments. xo
Friday, October 29, 2010
Once upon a time I made a Halloween costume for Briar. I do not know how to sew, I cannot read a pattern, I don’t even flirt with trying a Martha Stewart project. Yet some part of me felt like I needed, at least once, to make a costume by my own hand. There were [...]
Friday, October 22, 2010
The irresistibility of you… For being defiant and choosing Batman. For being literal and always assuming the “real Batman” pose. For eclipsing the costume with your sparkle and surpassing expectations in every way. Avery my favorite Batman.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Finley was scheduled for school five days a week. It was too much, she was too sleepy, the hours didn’t match, it didn’t feel right. I cut Fridays. It isn’t much, one day with 2.5 hours of just us. We enjoy a patchwork of me telecommuting and the two of us tangling legs on the ground and [...]
Saturday, April 30, 2011
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