My Father Is Dying

People are calling. They ask, “How are you holding up?” But I’m not sure they believe me when I say “I’m ok” It’s true, though. At least, for now it is. I am ok. For the most part, anyway. If you had asked me a week ago, the answer would have been “No.” Last week […]

A Whole New World, A Whole New Light

So… I cried during the new release of Disney’s live-action Aladdin remake. This did not come as much of a surprise to my kids (and truthfully, not much to me, either). We’ve all rather come to expect this type of behavior from me as par for the course. There’s not a sports ceremony, dance recital, […]

We Are Done

  With the recent and abrupt self-weaning of my 2-year-old comes yet another stark realization: I think the growing of my family is done. There’s no “think”, actually. Rob would most certainly state that we are done. I suppose I say think because it’s only just recently that I have slowly and finally come to […]

A Trio of Tradition

A few days ago I shared a trip down memory lane of our gingerbread houses over the years, only to just now realize that I haven’t added any updates for the past three years. *Shrugs* What can I say? Children zap brain cells and memory space, and that’s a fact. But, to state my same […]

Homework Kills Trees

I can’t begin to tell you just how happy I am that Thanksgiving week is finally here! Not because there is eggnog and sweet potato pie to be had (although yesss to that, too!) But even more exciting than that, what I’m over the moon about is having several sweet days over which my household […]

A Kindness Remembered

  Today, my heart is heavy. A back story: Ten years ago a complete stranger showed me a random act of kindness that to this day still leaves me in awe whenever I reflect upon it. I was your typical broke college student who found myself in a situation where my current lease was ending […]

“It All Turned Out Fine”

You’ve been excited about Kindergarten since the day of your preschool graduation, asking only moments after the ceremony conclusion if it was time to drive to your new school. And you continued to ask repeatedly since then, every afternoon when I picked you up from summer camp, if this was your last day coming here. Finally […]

It Could Have Been Me

Weeks later, I am still thinking of the recent incidents of the little boy entering the gorilla exhibit at the Cincinnati Zoo and of the fatal alligator attack of the toddler vacationing in Florida. I am absolutely heartbroken for the parents that have lost their child. I am saddened that a rare animal was killed. […]

To My Baby Boy/Big Boy On His 5th Birthday

Dear Mattykinz, It seems ridiculous to think of it now but when I first learned you were going to be a boy, I was filled with worry and apprehension. I’m not really into cars, dirt, sports, bugs, or pretty much anything that is typically associated with raising a boy. And even though I know those […]

When a 72 Year-Old Woman Gives Birth

As reported in the news a few days ago, doctors have raised ethical and health concerns after a 72 year-old woman recently gave birth to her first child following two years of IVF treatment. I understand the initial ethical question over whether or not IVF should be performed on a woman of advanced age and the […]

An Old Town Weekend

Dear Babes, It’s already been a few weeks since our return and yet you two are still going on and on about this year’s family vacation. You’ve been very much into animals lately, so for our trip this year we figured why not headline it with one of the most famous zoos in the country, […]

There Was an Old Woman Who Lived in A Shoe…

Several weeks ago it was reported that Annegret Raunigk of Germany, age 65, is expecting quadruplets. She has already 13 children (the oldest of which is 44) and 7 grandchildren. I don’t believe it is anyone’s right or business to meddle into someone’s decision to procreate. One should be entitled to have as many children as […]

A Magical Weekend

Dear Babes, We did it! Daddy and I managed to get you to Disney World for the surprise of your short little lives, and all without you suspecting a single thing!  You’ve been asking to go to Disney World for the better part of a year now, and all we ever say is “We’ll see” […]

Our Weekend #2

Dear Babes, We started our weekend off with our usual Friday family movie night and watched Night at the Museum. You enjoyed the movie, requesting already to know if there was a “next one” that we could also get, and for us to go on a trip to a museum like the one in the […]

The Family Dinner Round Table

I did not grow up in a family that sat at the table and ate dinner together daily. I don’t know that there was any particular reason; it just wasn’t something that we did. And yet we are still very close with only the same reasonable level of dysfunction as any other family. So I’ll be […]

Our Weekend

Dear Lila and Matthew, You Babes had a full and fun-filled weekend, starting with our regular Friday night ritual of popcorn and a family movie (this time it was The Muppet Christmas Carol.) Early Saturday morning we had breakfast with Daddy and then you hit the road with Mommy to ride to her hometown an […]

To My Baby Girl/Big Girl on Her 5th Birthday

Dear Lilabeans (aka My Lil’ Puddn Pop) It was this exact time 5 years ago, at 7:04 pm, that you came into the world and made me into a mother. Barely six pounds, so tiny and scrawny, and a terrible feeder and sleeper, you were just so unbelievably clingy and…needy, as I suppose all babies […]

Catching (Up With) the Gingerbread Man

It started the year I left for college, when I was homesick and missing my family, particularly The Babies: my oldest niece and nephew who were 4 and 5 at the time and my youngest nephew, only 6 months old when I moved away and whom I felt I had barely gotten to know yet. […]