All posts filed under: momhood

feed the birds

Published by

We knew moving away from the city would be a huge transition. Though we grew up in rural areas, Chris and I had both been in and around Boston for more than 10 years (Chris closer to 20 years). That would be 10+ years of living a short walk to a convenience store, having any type of cuisine imaginable delivered to our home, a steady hum of noise, short walks to the park, unplanned visits with our neighbors, and being mere minutes from any sort of cultural activity we could dream of in Boston. We also spent years longing for more space, less traffic, and more nature. 

hello, it’s (stressed-out) me

Published by

Hello. How are you? It’s so typical of me to talk about myself, I’m sorry. (If you tell me you don’t like that song, I’ll know you are lying.) I’ll share with you the unfinished (now finished-and oh my how much has happened since I wrote most of this) last post I was working on months ago before I landed in a big pile of survival mode and had to stop blogging for a bit. I think it is timely now, because though the holidays can be joyous (seeing Christmas through your child’s eyes cannot be described in earthly words) and full of love (I’m sorry to tell you all that my husband is the very best there is), they can be utterly stressful

food with friends: treasured wine and chocolate mousse

Published by

My how weekend nights with friends have changed with parenthood. What used to be late nights of excessive imbibing, decadent food, perhaps some sort of objectionable board game, and raucous laughter has morphed into takeout, the sounds of running feet and something Disney in the background (or maybe The Gruffalo if we’re feeling particularly highbrow), and sippy cups sitting among the highball glasses (consumed very gently now, as young children and hangovers do not mix). I’m not complaining. It is priceless. 

Mayfair Farm

Published by

This weekend, we celebrated Father’s Day and my mother’s 60th birthday. Anderson and I went with his grammy and papa to visit a little slice of heaven today: Mayfair Farm in Harrisville, NH.  This sustainable farm has tons of treasures, such as a greenhouse full of veggies, orchards, strawberries (almost ready to pick!), piglets, cows, sheep, and today’s favorite by far: very free range chickens.  By free range, I mean they run wherever they please – as all chickens should.  

working parents

must see this week #3: the many personas of working mothers

Published by

Apologies, readers.  I meant to publish this days ago, but I got hit with a really terrible case of good ol’ Influenza and I’ve been in bed for four days.   Enjoy this next recommendation.   Working Mothers by photographer Alice Proujansky http://aliceproujansky.com/a/working-mothers/   While looking something up at work, I stumbled upon a photography project that blew me away and touched me so much that it made me choke up.  Alice Proujansky has an ongoing project on her site called “Working Mothers.”  Without words, it shows just how many personas are wrapped up into one working mother.  Working mothers have to be powerful and articulate enough to present in meetings, yet flip the switch at any given moment and kiss boo boos, clean vomit, nurse fevers, and buy diapers.  They have to maintain an air of professionalism yet also dash away to private places to hook pumps up to their breasts to nourish their babies. I struggle every single day with trying to understand how a full-time working mother could ever find balance.  I think about …

must read this week #2: growth and development are not a race

Published by

11 Things I Wish Every Parent Knew by Dr. Stephen Cowan on MindBodyGreen.com http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-10250/11-things-i-wish-every-parent-knew.htmlIn such a busy, rushed culture, I often hear things like “I can’t wait until this stage is over,” or “When will he/she sleep through the night?”  These are very normal things for parents to say because child rearing is freaking hard. We’re also programmed to praise all things early: early walkers, early talkers,  early potty users, etc. and we all know those weird parents that like to make things competitive for some reason.  Social media can add to the “race” if you let it in.  In 11 Things I Wish Every Parent Knew by Dr. Stephen Cowan, #1 on this list is “Growth and development are not a race.”   In a world that is so go-go-go, cherishing the development of our babies is one thing that should be savored, I think.  Every person is different and every baby is different in terms of development.  Anderson started counting fairly early and I’m really proud of him, but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t necessarily …

love and dinosaur cards

Published by

I confess, I’ve never been a fan of Valentine’s Day. One might call me a Valentine’s Day Curmudgeon.  I always thought of it as a cheesy Hallmark holiday loaded with materialism geared to women.  I know…I sound like the Grinch. A few things happened this week to change my tune, however. It started with a conversation with a co-worker–who is a strong, independent woman–discussing her lack of understanding of the Valentine’s Day haters that are all over social media right now.  Why not celebrate love?  Why not have a day to remind us all to share love, because in the busy day-to-day, it is so easy to forget?  She had a point. Next, another dear friend of mine gave to me a Valentine and a little box of chocolates.  She gave this with no expectation of receiving anything back.  She just took the time to say, “Hey friend, I love you.”  The chocolates didn’t even last five minutes, by the way. Suddenly, I started to think about sweet confections I could make for my husband …

words

Published by

How is it possible that this little being… now says stuff?  Like, real words?  When did he go from baby to little boy? I’m siiicckkk.  Bleh.  I have a terrible summer cold and battled a wretched fever last night that had me wishing for death.  I’ve been cranky and unbearable.  My poor husband hid from me yesterday.  I couldn’t even stand myself.  Then, today, my baby boy kept yelling for bubbles, which pulled me out of my misery.  Not just bubbo.  He accentuated the s at the end.  Let me tell you, I blew as many bubbleS as I could. Here is a self-indulgent post for you:  a list of the words that are coming out of his little teething mouth everyday–because I don’t want to forget this stage of complete wonder.  We can see his wheels turning constantly as he tries something new and as he figures things out.  He is a daring one, this child, and oh so curious.  He doesn’t understand what embarrassment is yet.  He shamelessly gets excited when he is …

12 things I never thought I’d do before becoming a mom

Published by

We buried my sweet, lively grandmother this past weekend.  She left us in December and we were finally able to have closure on Saturday, though I miss her an awful lot.  Here she is in 1954 when my father was just an infant. I wasn’t able to say Happy Mother’s Day to you all because things were so hectic.  So, to lighten things up a bit, I’d like to share with you some of the crazy, funny things I simply never could have known I’d ever do. Pick undigested grape skins out of the washer after washing diapers. Do a full song and dance routine when a certain little dude doesn’t want to eat dinner. Make loud razz/fart noises with my mouth/hand merely because it makes my child laugh. While out for a jog with the stroller, actually run HARDER because the jiggling/speed makes him laugh.  Normally I’d, uh, probably stop running if people were laughing at me. Memorize a full library of children’s books to use when needed (fussy car rides or full blown …