Posts under ‘people pleasing’

Asking for What I Need

Image credit: Photo by
c@rljones on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons

Earlier this week, I had a rough morning with my daughter, my son was sick, I had an IEP meeting scheduled (those of you who don't know what that is, be glad you don't) and on top of it all, I couldn't find a family pet (which [...]

Opening Up

Image credit: Photo by
casch52 on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons

This week I plan to tell one of my best and oldest friends about my husband's addiction after nearly six years of silence around it. I've wanted to let her in to this part of my life, because keeping her out -- keeping anyone I feel [...]

On the Golden Gate Bridge

Image credit: Photo by
serdir (at home) on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons

I suspect crossing the Golden Gate Bridge must get tiresome for the folks who commute across it each day -- the traffic, the fog, the monotony of routine -- but I am not one of those people. I was in the San Francisco area [...]

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. [...]

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 areas that [...]

What Are You Thinking?

Image credit: Photo by
gutter on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons

I was recently reading a book on Buddhism and the Twelve Steps that describes a meditation exercise in which you label your thoughts: "desire," "aversion," "thinking." The author mentioned one woman who was surprised at how much of her thinking centered on desire: I want, I [...]

Other People Have Higher Powers Too

Image credit: Photo by
Tonyç on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons

My husband and I go out regularly without our children, but until recently we had never been away overnight. Difficulties with sleep are common among children with autism, and my son has only just (at age seven) settled into something like a reliable sleep pattern. [...]

Teaching Myself to Parent in Recovery

Image credit: Photo by
Laura Burlton on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons

When my daughter was about a year old -- not yet able to talk or to walk across a room without plopping on her bottom -- I was out grocery shopping with her. By the end of the (too long) trip, she was squirming in [...]

Updated Blogroll

Image credit: Photo by
maher berro on Flickr
Licensed under Creative Commons

My blogroll was long overdue for a makeover. As you all know, the rules are: comment regularly and ye shall be put on the blogroll. But oh, what a headache to keep track of all that myself! Enter a neat little piece of [...]

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 sandwich bag's [...]