Oh, humility. We meet again, here, bumping up alongside one another in the fog of motherhood. Motherhood that bends our knees and tightens our shoulders, that spins webs of worries and gives us no rest, beneath the ceiling fan on an eighty-degree night. I hear… Read More
Dear Beginning of the School Year Melanie, You think you’re ready. You’ve prepped yourself by reading homeschool blogs, talking to homeschool moms, buying subscriptions to online education sites, printables sites, buying enough books and curriculum to serve an entire classroom of children, more than enough for… Read More
Lately, Evaline has been coming to my bed in the morning hours and curling up as close as possible to me. This morning, she bumped her forehead against mine and told me, as she does every morning, I love you too, Mama. I hadn’t said a… Read More
I find it increasingly fitting that as our school year unravels like a sweater with a loose thread, my children have become (much later than their peers) obsessed with the movie Frozen, and in particular, the anthem: Let It Go! Because, oh, we’re gone. I… Read More
I’ve decided that there are few crueler things you can do to a woman who suffers from (mild?) misophonia, than give her nine year old son a palate expander. Unless, you want to give her son a palate expander at the same time that her seven… Read More
My daughters do it, naturally. My sons too. On long walks, in parking lots, while running across a playground, during tense scenes in a movie, while sitting beside me in church, while jumping up and down, while passing through the automatic doors of Walmart. It’s a… Read More
This morning, Evaline broke a bowl, split it down the middle in two while attempting to refill it with Goldfish. Lila held the pieces together and announced she could fix it. But, you’ll still see the crack, she said, showing me the damage. It was… Read More
They come in with fistfuls, crushed, warm and wilted in their palms. Dirt under their fingernails, smudged on their cheeks, they each come forth and bring me the soft, yellow riches of their dandelion harvest, the first for this year with it’s late birthing spring. The broken mess of… Read More
Our morning routine has slowly unraveled into a morning meandering. Alex wanders in and out of my room as he checks tasks from his list: Word Problems over oatmeal – done. Reading Comprehension – done. Chapter of reading book of his choice – done. Language… Read More
In the kitchen, Evaline is laying on a flattened cardboard box on the floor with a marker-doodled, naked, baby doll. She murmurs excitedly and I catch a word here or there as I stand by the sink, stirring my coffee. Look, my castle! I love my sister. Oh,… Read More
The Frozen Moon 