I imagine that I am capable of being present at the exact moment before something goes wrong.
Spring Fling
We don’t allow them enough freedom. We hover, helicopter-like.
After the Glitter
The first seven years of our family’s story weren’t perfect – god knows – and they weren’t easy. I had no idea how large the struggle to attach with a traumatized toddler could be.
Just Keep Breathing
Your baby, that baby that you see right there with the beating heart and the perfect tiny hands and feet, is going to die and no amount of wishing me dead or mute or skipping your appointment or begging for a do-over is going to change that. Off you go now, the dog needs to be let out. There are dishes in the sink. You can’t leave the kids with your friend forever.
Sweet Simplicity
Nothing worked and I am strict. I don’t bend to whining. Their stalling stretched longer and longer while my frustration reached chart-topping levels. I yelled. I ignored them except to say “clean up and we’ll talk.” I threatened. I set timers. I set specific tasks. I rewarded quick clean up with TV (that worked for two days). I suggested before each quiet time that they not dump out every single blessed toy in the basement. Nothing worked.
These Small Moments
I love bed time for all the wrong reasons. Actually, one specific wrong reason: because it means in 45 minutes I will have three hours all to myself. A crackling fire, a glass of wine and the fourth book in the Game of Thrones series call my name plaintively from downstairs, forcing me to dig deep and breathe slowly through the last push.
Sugar Rush
By Stacey Conner. I like sweets. I like treating my kids. We often eat sugar, baked goods, and even candy. But some weeks, I feel like it’s inappropriate for me to add a treat onto all the crap they’ve eaten at ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
Looking For My Butterfly Balloon
My current emotional state reminds me of something that happened in the depths of last winter. Though this September is a gift of perfect, gentle, sun-drenched days, it is my children who push back the fog.
Where Love Lives
You have to look for love, seek it out where it lives.
Threads
Mom makes touch decision to find another family for her adopted son.