Category Archives: Megan

Dance of a Mother

By Megan Bean danced all weekend in her very first dance recital, times two — my first-born, tall and proud young bone and muscle beside me but still so fluffy-tiny against the backdrop of the cavernous high school stage. I watched her performances breath-held-chest-puffed, my heart beating out cartoon flowers and stars, my eyes filled…

Got My Rubber Sandals, Got My Straw Hat

By Megan Summer’s here, and as anyone who lives in the Midwest (or Northeast, or anywhere winters are frigid and unrelenting and LONG) would be, I am 100% for that. I love the time I get to spend outside with my family these long, beautiful days, and I love the freedom and flexibility in our…

An Other Day

By Megan There are days, my friends, when all of my reflection and appreciation and joy and love aren’t enough to keep me from being frustrated and irritated and DONE with motherhood. A five year old girl has enough sassiness and attitude and drama than this Mama knows how to handle sometimes, and Peabody? Oh,…

Tooth Fairy

By Megan So, we have a loose tooth in the household. It’s our first, and I discovered it a little over a week ago upon taking a closer look at a tooth that appeared to be getting crookeder and crookeder by the day. Turns out there was good reason for all the crookedness – that…

The Girl Who Made Me Mama

Right before 6 AM our door squeaked open and I heard her little feet, tiptoetiptoetiptoe, and the rattlerattlerattle of a white paper bag decorated with a yellow handprint daisy. And around to my side of the bed came the footsteps and stopped, pause, right in front of my face. And then she waited. And I…

I Don’t Know Who He’ll Be, Except Enormously Loved

I have a thing for little boy necks and little boy shoulders. Actually I have a thing for MAN necks and MAN shoulders (well, ONE man neck and ONE pair of man shoulders, as I have narrowed down the selection over the years!), but lately I’ve been drawn to Peabody’s pint-size version of these features….

Needed

By Megan Originally published at FriedOkra last month. This morning Peabody came to me, whining, and held his arms up, buried his head in my legs, asking me to pick him up. Friday morning are PACKED with stuff we need to get done – preschool run, laundry, cleaning, last minute errands, it’s all a big…

Stuff I’m Lovin’ – Kid Version, Part I

By Megan I don’t normally get around to doing “Things I Like” lists, even though like most people, I do tend to like stuff. Sometimes a rilly, rilly lot. I guess the problem is, I tend to like stuff for a short while and then move on to liking something else. But there are things…

Best. Checklist. Ever.

By Megan The weather forecast for the next week in Chicago gets better every day. By Thursday we’ll hit the 70s with plenty of sunshine. I’ve got my Brookfield Zoo membership package right here on the desk in front of me. I’ve got fresh fruit, sandwich makings, juice boxes and two unopened packages of Girl…

One Spring Forward, Two Left Back

By Megan So, I abandoned my children. Left ’em back in Central Standard Time last weekend (and I don’t even miss ’em!) Prior to the big change-over to CDT, our family’s daily life had become a stubborn, gnarled hair ball of hard schedule items and all of those equally important but softer to-dos that had…