For Mother's Day: A Letter to My Children

 

Being a mother is the most challenging, and rewarding, experience of my life. You have taught me what it means to be unconditionally loved, how to unconditionally love another, to want something better for someone else than what I want for myself, and helped me understand who I am in ways I don’t know that I would have ever…

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Originally posted on Alphabet Soup.

If you want the truth, ask your kids!

I got my hair done today! Yes, it is a big deal. Well, for me it is. I have always had some hang ups when it…

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I had to share three things my son said to me since last night that made me melt like butter!

"Mom, your hair is softer than a cloud" he said last night as he smoothed my hair out over his pillow and laid on it before falling…

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I know I haven't met you yet - or maybe I have and I scared you away when I came at you waving a tape measure. If that was the case, please - hear me out. Read…

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It's no surprise that the oldest boy has increased the amount of pressure and stepped up his daily harassment, hoping desperately to sway me into saying, "Yes. You can go get a tattoo, son!"

See, he thinks it was his tactic of never-ending harassment  that worked in his favor several weeks ago, when I finally allowed him to get his ears pierced (after three years of nonstop asking). He hasn't figured out that it wasn't because of his begging, constant pleading and nagging which caused…

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There was once a teenage mother... me. I was 19 when I had my oldest son. He's almost 15 now. When his father and I split up, my son went to live with him, and so it's been for years.

He's the most amazing kid. He stands up for himself. He loves gaming, theater, and football, and he does all three in school. He's in the middle of all the social groups like I was in high school. He doesn't take any crap.

He stands up for me. I'm in a committed relationship with a woman, and have…

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Tomorrow we are having a birthday party for my littlest one. My baby. Although his birthday isn’t officially until Monday, this party is one of the “primary” celebrations we will have for him. See there are a few different kinds of parties. There are “school parties”–these happen at school, there are “family parties”–just family, and there are “kid parties”–kid only celebrations. Then there is the Mack-daddy party, the kid-family mash-up. That’s what we are doing tomorrow. Now you may think… Continue

Yes, I am a 35 year old woman and I am beside myself with excitement about the upcoming release of the movie The Hunger Games.  This popular book by Suzanne Collins was made into a movie that is being released on March 23 at Midnight.

Like the Twilight Saga and Harry Potter, this series is highly…

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To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4(NKJV)





“...I pray your death will not be in vain. We will stand for you… Continue

 

Recently, a situation has come to my attention. I coddle my boys.

Now, you have to understand this confession is coming from a mother who believes in raising her sons to be wonderful husbands. Strong, independent, caring, supportive. But especially, well trained in housework and cooking. I have no intention of being one of those mothers who clean their rooms, make their beds, cook their dinners, do laundry,…

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 He'll dress in a charcoal gray Calvin Klein tux.  He'll put a wristlet on his sweetheart.  He'll smile for a million and one photos.  He'll stay out all night at an After-Prom party hosted by his high school.  He'll dance and laugh and eat and, yes, he'll probably even smooch his girl.  He'll do everything that all other juniors do to enjoy and experience prom...as I did.  But for the last 25 years, (ugh...really--a quarter of a century?) prom meant more to me than its pomp and…

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Note: please be advised that names have been changed to safeguard my son's anonymity.

Earlier this week I stumbled across an education blog that suggested boys who struggle in school lack close friendships. Developmental psychologist Niobe Way proposed that boys experience…

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Lately, I am a lonely mother.  I know--even in a world with millions of moms and mom-blogs and mom-circles and mom magazines, even though my closest confidants are parents: I am a solitary figure with solitary problems living in a deep dark solitary vacuum.  What about those social networks you ask?  Well, amongst 143 friends on my Facebook page only 20 of them aren't parents.  (Mostly my former students, others who have made conscious choices NOT to be moms and dads, and one priest.)  I…

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Where should I start with you two?

The thousands of hairs pulled out daily by your tiny fingers?

My almost-scratched-way-too-many-times corneas?

The 1,0000 ER trips? The ER trip on Christmas day for Ace because of a certain someone who… Continue