When she came to my bedside last night, in the early hours of the morning, I felt her before I could see the shadow of her carved out against the black. In the bed, she stayed closer than close, arms around my neck, forehead to my… Read More
All posts filed under “family”
March
It’s March and it’s inevitable. Here, in this space of the year where we are holding our breath, waiting for the sun to return, for the snow to melt, for the world to move toward warmth and light, here, the echo of the hand of… Read More
Treasure
It’s eight in the morning and the dishes from taco night are still piled in the sink. I skate across a pond of spilled orange juice. I see Evaline, dressed as Belle and clenching a fistful of juice-drenched tissues. The kids had a sleepover last night… Read More
Ever, Every. All, Always.
In the kitchen, Evaline is wearing a blue tank top, carrying a naked baby doll in one arm and a purse over her shoulder. She is in shorts, in February, because I am too tired to have that fight one-more-time. As I hear her feet… Read More
Closerthanthis
During one of the cabin-fever snow days of this month (which has had so many, I am losing count,) Lila came to me to ask if she and I could do each other’s make up. I had not showered, had no desire to have little… Read More
Friday
So, it’s Friday. But unlike last Friday, or next Friday, this is the Friday where we live in a sea of doily hearts and construction paper love. Our kitchen table has been painted over in smears of pink and dots of glitter glue. (Evaline has… Read More
Handle
I think somewhere in the far (very far) recesses of my mind, where things are neat and organized, I had a vision of doing school at home in an, at least somewhat, organized manner. I pictured specific hours, specific daily routines, life on a schedule.… Read More
Worry & Peace
I’ve cried more this week than I can remember in recent months. I wept for the family I wrote of recently. I prayed and then I cried, not because I’m terribly close to this family, but because in faith and in motherhood, we are alike. We… Read More
He Waits
We’re sitting at the table, surrounded by a morning’s worth of Valentine craft scraps. Alex is in the middle, tapping his pencil ferociously, fidgeting his feet, shaking his head. I’ve asked him to write neatly. To copy sentences, instructions really. He is writing, over and… Read More
The Art of Delay: Embracing The Day
We are embracing a snow day today. Not because the commute from our bedrooms to the kitchen (where we do our school work) is treacherous, but because it has been a long winter and I, in my full and busy life, am breaking. Imperceptible splinters,… Read More