Welcome to A Room of Mama's Own.

I'm Mary P. Jones, your hostess. (Feel free to say that in your head the way you know Ricardo Montalban would. Although, much as I've wished it were sometimes, my life isn't Fantasy Island.)

I began writing in 2007 as MPJ, and still prefer those initials; so, if we're going to be bloggy friends (and I hope we are), please, call me MPJ.

About Anonymity

Actually, what I said above is not strictly true. (I can't believe I'm misleading you right off like that!) Well, no, all of it is true except the part about Mary P. Jones being my name; that's a pseudonym that Real Life Me has adopted to protect the privacy of my children and the rest of my family. In fact, all names in the blog are pseudonyms, and I may (especially when blogging about people outside my family) change identifying details if I feel it's necessary to protect anonymity.

About this Blog

A Room of Mama's Own is where I tell my truth, share my journey and try to find my center. I am (and this is quite strictly true) a woman, wife, mother and writer blogging about hm, well, whatever strikes my fancy really. And what strikes my fancy is primarily: sex addiction, codependency, autism, parenting, spirituality, writing and haikus. As you can imagine, it's that controversial arena of writing haikus about my cute children that leads me to conceal my true identity. Oh, right, that and my husband's sex addiction.

About My Family

My blog posts are primarily peopled by:

• Mary, me! (It is my room, people.)
• Mark, my husband. Mark is my dear friend and the love of my life. He's full of wisdom, love, humor and spirituality. He's also a sex addict and a compulsive debtor. You know, no one's perfect.
• Austen, my 8-year-old son. Austen is loving, quirky, wickedly smart and autistic. One of our biggest concerns is his limited diet; he eats fewer than 5 foods. We find his autism wonderful at times and at others, frustrating.
• Janie, my 5-year-old daughter. Janie is full of boundless energy and love of life. She's neurotypical (that is, she is typically developing, not autistic), but her unique personality makes it hard for me to consider her typical in any other way. We find her typical development wonderful at times and at others, frustrating.

I could tell you more, but that's what the blog is here for. If you're new and looking to learn more, I encourage you to explore some of my handpicked favorite posts, which you can find under "My Greatest Hits" over on the right sidebar.