Image credit: Art by georgia.g on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons When my son was first born, I actually spent some time doing that thing that we stay-at-home moms supposedly spend our lazy, bon-bon eating days doing: I watched television. Now, I know, folks who haven't actually been stay-at-home parents to a colicky infant -- [...]
Posts under ‘memories’
Feeding the Emptiness
Image credit: Photo by Djuliet on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons Many years ago, before we had children, my husband bought me a small fish tank for my birthday. At the time, I wanted a car. I didn't really think he could buy a car, but I was relying on a very iffy public transit [...]
Learning to Say No
I am getting better at saying no, when I mean no, but it's still an area where I have a lot of work to do. Saying "yes" to requests is like a reflex to me. Tap my knee and my foot bounces up, ask me for help and I say, "Yes." Oops. Wait. Let me [...]
Sisterhood Haikus
My dear friend Kelly is the sister of my heart, my chosen family. We go out shopping, try a gaudy sweater dress just to laugh at it. Bright, flashy, sparkly, we expect pure tackiness but she looks stunning. The joke is on us: That strange, laughable dress proves everything's her style. Sisterhood Award inspired Kelly [...]
Isolation
Image credit: Photo by H@Ru on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons I feel very comfortable in written words, in the virtual world, but relating to people face-to-face has always been more difficult for me. I'm an introvert (meaning that time around people drains me, even when I enjoy it) and although no longer noticeably shy, [...]
My Daughter is Not Me
Image credit: Photo by igorms on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons When my kids were infants, the hard work of parenting was mostly physical: dealing with extreme sleep deprivation, lugging babies and their gear around, changing diapers, keeping dangerous objects out of reach. But the older the kids get, the more the work shifts to [...]
Words on the Bathroom Wall
Image credit: Photo by Malingering on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons The women's restroom in the basement of the Student Union was everything I dreamed college would be. The first time I used it, taking a tour of campus before my freshman year, I fell in love. At a glance, there wasn't much to love: [...]
Good Old Reliable Me
Image credit: Photo by Eva the Weaveron Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons When I was in high school, some friends and I did a group project for English class where we put on a short play. We needed confetti for one scene, and we all agreed to split the work by each making a little [...]
Doing Nothing
Image credit: Photo by monkeyc.net on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons One summer day, when I was eighteen, I was lying outside in the sun, eyes closed, just (supposedly) relaxing. But I could feel every tense muscle in my body. I could feel my mind racing, uneasy with the stillness. What was I doing just [...]
Finding God
Image credit: Photo by xamad on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons One summer night many years ago, I was standing on my parents' back porch talking to an old friend -- old love -- on the phone. The air was warm and moist in a way that wrapped around me like a blanket, and I [...]
