The Wink

Make Your Mark

I’ve learned a few things in the past couple of years. Some lessons have been deep: I am mortal. Some have not: These lips and lipstick don’t mix. The thing that has been life-altering has been the realization that in daring to be passionate about something, I surpass my own perceptions of what I can and can’t do. [...]

Wordless Wednesday

Who’s that girl?

Ever since a boy in Avery’s pre-k class destroyed, or at least put a major chink, in her love of navy blue and superheroes, I’ve been incredibly mindful of how I manage self. How exactly does one raise daughters without letting the pendulum of self swing too far to one side or the other? I [...]

Sleepless

“I can’t sleep.” It floats down from their room often; the voice behind it is always Briar’s. It’s never Avery, for her sleep comes like breathing. Sometimes Finley chimes in that she can’t sleep either, but she doesn’t mean it. Finley chooses not to sleep. She squeezes a bit more out of the day and then [...]

Durable Ribbons

Every once in a while I hesitate about a post. I learned a long time ago that some things, even though they are a part of my life, are not mine to tell. Still,  I’m pretty honest here, though there is an increasing awareness of how proprietary some of this is getting as the girls [...]

Grooves of routine

Making the rounds, waking the girls, adding socks to outfits and tokens to backpacks reminds me of my childhood. I remember special things—Christmas concerts, spring morning field trips, last games of tag at sundown. I can almost smell the damp Eugene soil and hear the laughter of my childhood friends. It is exquisite to revisit [...]

Cannot be left unsaid

Life with kids—it is, and then it is even more. Avery on tickle tag: “I am sorry I called you cock.” Briar on babies: “I am afraid my vagina won’t be big enough.” Finley on baking: “Roll it and pat it and smack it with a bumblebee.” And, scene.