Image credit: Photo by Bob.Fornal on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons If you had asked me, before Austen was born, if nearly every detail of my life was fixed in routine, I would have said no, and I would have thought that was quite true. After all, I had free will and all that. If [...]
Posts under ‘neophobia’
A Spoon Is Not a Spoon
Image credit: Photo by skinnylaminx on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons As I write this, I have a cup of tea beside me, and I am trying to get myself to drink it. I'm not hesitating because I don't like tea or because I think it will be unpleasant. I'm hesitating because I'm trying to [...]
If My Son Ruled the World
Image credit: Photo by go to /theworldsaddress/ instead on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons I was looking through Austen's school papers this week and found an exercise he had done describing what things would be like if he ruled the world. He had filled in blanks to complete several sentences, one of which read: "If [...]
Human Habitrail Redux
Image credit: Photo by Sam Pullara on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons Six months ago, my family spent an evening at an indoor play area with an overhead play structure that was a labyrinth of plastic tunnels ending in a slide. At the time, my son Austen was eager to climb up and try the [...]
Huh. I Guess You Never Know.
Image credit: Photo by nickwheeleroz on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons Now rumor would have it that my son's autism translates into rigid, ritualistic behavior patterns. And you may have heard that he's afraid to try new things: from new play structures to new foods. But don't listen. Yesterday, his sister asked to go play [...]
A Tale of Two Mothers
Image credit: Photo by Omar Eduardo on Flickr Licensed under Creative Commons As featured in the New York Times blog Motherlode I A mother and her son are in line at a grocery store. They boy looks like he’s about nine or ten. The mother looks a little tense as the boy starts to fidget [...]
My Subconscious Makes a Joke
After several days of being up too late, I decided to take advantage of my husband's weekend presence at home and send him out with the kids while I took a nap. I fell into a light sleep, listening to the kids alternately giggling and bickering as they got ready to leave, then slipped into [...]
Wow. Really? I’m a Good Mama?
Photo credit:Image adapted from a photo byKRISnFRED on Flickr In the mothering world, compliments are hard to come by. Oh, sure. You'll hear, "Your kids are so cute!" But that's not really about you, or even (usually) your kids. It's one of those generic statements, like "have a nice day" or "how are you." You [...]
Riding the Vomit Comet
My son got off the bus yesterday, walked into the house and covered his mouth with his hands. I thought maybe a wiggly tooth had come out, but when pressed to tell Mama what was wrong, the response was the dreaded, "I think I'm going to throw up." Twelve hours, several loads of laundry and [...]
A Halloween Miracle
Now I know, Halloween isn't usually a holiday one associates with miracles. But maybe it's the holiday on which miracles happen for heathens like me, or maybe it's just that miracles can happen at any time on any day, without any special occasions at all. I suppose sometimes miracles just happen. A miracle happened at [...]
