What. A. Year. 2022 was a year of so much change. At the end of 2021, I was dealing with a lot. I was pregnant, and although my pregnancy was mostly healthy, it was a very high anxiety time for me. I had recently cut ties with my family of origin – a difficult but necessary decision, and I had a lot of feelings about everything. I have not and probably will not go into a ton of depth about…
soul connections it isthe onewho held their breathwatching,with cautionas your chubby feettook their first steps the one who spoke first,will you be my friend?as they held out a kind hand it is they with whomyou accompanied so many youthful adventureschildhood bike rides through the woodsgrowing pains and ‘i-wish-i-coulds‘ it is they who gave youyour first kissthat tiny, innocent, physical actwhich somehow ignites within youa confirmation of your potentialto be loved it is they with whom youbuild a life withand share…
Earlier this year I had a profound experience in parenting – one in which I got to see a cycle from my past be broken before my eyes. My daughter had picked a flower out of a bouquet we had and asked if she could put it on the nightstand in her room in a glass of water. At the time, she was newly 4 1/2 and I knew that the chances that this cup of water would wind up…
I came across a new term the other day called, “matrescence”. It is defined as the time in a woman’s life when she transitions into motherhood. Similar to the concept of adolescence, [the transformative time where one grows from a child into a young adult] matrescence takes time. It is not an overnight process. Becoming a mother and those first few years of motherhood are filled to the brim with beauty and difficulty, challenge and reward. On one hand, it…
Hi. I just wanted to say that I’m proud of you. I know the work is hard. I know changing patterns and learning new ways of doing, and being is hard. But look at you. You’re doing it. You recognized an unhealthy pattern. You decided it ends with you. You are healing future generations with your bravery. And I know you get sad sometimes. Because it’s hard. And you feel alone. You feel an immense weight of responsibility on your…
On our way home from a family hike a few weekends ago, my daughter asked us what our favorite season was. This question came after Kevin and I had both complained about disliking the cold, windy weather we’d just experienced and me saying that I couldn’t wait for spring so that the trees would bud and the sun would come out again. After thinking about her question, I realized that I liked all the seasons – except for winter. It…
Happy New Year! It is that time again where we collectively think about what we’d like to accomplish in the year ahead of us. As I’ve said in the past, I don’t really do the “new year’s resolution” / very specific goals thing anymore. Rather, I try to come up with a few words or themes to focus on throughout the year. This has worked well for me in the last few years so I am continuing again in 2022….
When I think about the last year the only way I could describe it is as a growth year. Getting through the end of 2020 and the entirety of 2021 has felt a lot like getting pulled through a car wash. There were things to be addressed this year, feelings to be felt, and experiences to face, all of them demanding their turn to be acknowledged – whether I felt ready or not. And I took it – I didn’t…
It seems that it has been almost six months since I last posted here! I didn’t intend to be gone so long but a lot has happened. If I’m being honest, my priorities have shifted a lot in the past six months. It’s not that I wouldn’t like to regularly blog again – I would love to. But the reality is, I just don’t have the mental bandwidth these days. I think in a perfect world I would like to…
There are so many things that you should know. Now, I’m not talking about how to swaddle a baby while bleary-eyed at 3 am in the morning…that is a talent few master and I have no advice for (I opted for a velcro swaddle after a few weeks and have purchased one for every friend/family baby shower since.). I’m also not talking about figuring out the perfect schedule for your baby, or how to pick the right diapers or wipes….