By Melodee I sometimes hear mothers proclaim with great confidence, “I am a great mother!” This is often in tandem with a complaint about a mother-in-law’s meddling ways and criticisms, but still. There are women–mothers–who absolutely know that they are doing a fabulous job. I am not one of them. I worry. A lot. About…
Author Archives: Stephanie
I was a praying child, but I never prayed for that
By Gretchen From the ages of 9 to 13, I read Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret about a dozen times. I read a lot of the girlhood classics during those years, but kept returning to the bizarre world of the Four Pubescents of the Apocalypse. Maybe I was trying to grasp their motivations?…
Twice Upon A Potty
By DeeDee It is finished. The potty training, that is. I know, last week I said that I was giving up. Throwing in the toilet paper. Tossing out the baby with the bowl. And it felt good. The giving up. I placed the Pampers back in the changing table cabinet, while whistling a happy tune….
Spangled
By Stephanie Here’s an oldie but goodie. Happy 4th! Noah had his first sleepover at our house the other night. His little friend, just 6 years old, will celebrate the 4th today while his Mom serves in Iraq. She serves to protect my freedom while I complain about having to sweep the floor for the…
Don’t Forget The Funnybone
By Mary The other day my nine year old was having one of those terrible horrible no-good days. He was picking fights with everyone in sight and complaining about everyone, whether they were in sight or not. I grabbed him and playfully wrestled him over to the couch to sit snuggled against me. He put…
Gulp!
By Stephanie So, the other day Gray swallowed a penny. Darn it if I thought I’d get to bypass this milestone. What kind of Mother am I that my three year old was able to put a penny in his mouth and swallow it? On my watch! Well, I’m the Mother of a three-year old,…
Warning to cute bullies
By Melodee At our private pool the other day, six-year old Grace asked me for $1.50 to buy a snack from the vending machine. She likes the process of choosing a snack and putting in the money more than eating the snack. Feeling generous, I gave her the dollar bill and two quarters. She was…
Yes, I noticed your passive-aggressive jab, perfect stranger
By Gretchen The zoo is the Roman Coliseum of mothering, where strollers are skillfully jockeyed for prime penguin viewing spots and picnic lunches are compared. We go a lot. A family membership pays for itself in one visit when you have seven children, so I think of our local zoo as an elaborate park. There…
Clues
By DeeDee “BE QUIET, THE BABY IS SLEEPING!” My girls stop their game of tug-o-war over a Barbie accessory and stare at me blankly. They’re right. There is no baby in the house. Oh sure, there’s a 45 pound 3 year old that still occupies a crib down the hall. But, he has the ability…
Family Game Night
By Mary One of our favorite morale boosters is family game night. We’ve discovered a bunch of games over the years that are fun for large numbers of people. Some games are totally chance and can easily be played by people of all different ages. If there is an element of skill involved, you can…