My elderly mother sat across from me at her kitchen table, staring down at the sliced strawberries in her cereal. I noticed she was nervously stirring the milk with her spoon, unsure of what to do next. "I can't eat this," she sighed, "I can't swallow it." Her eyes met mine. A petrified little girl …
Category: Parenting
Beautiful Child
First breath pierces autumn chill,hazel eyes greet my blue.Strands of hair wound tight around fat fingersmy heart bleeds into yours. Run! Run! Run! scarlet leaves tumble as we dance, gold sparks of memoriesignite our sleeping minds. See the starry night swirl,the fallen acorns scatter and crunch beneath our feet. Feel the edge of timestrip flesh …
The Final Curtain
This is a true story that happened over 13 years ago. "Say your goodbye," the emergency room doctor suggested, his eyes brimming with compassion. But the deep wrinkles etched across his brow revealed the weariness of all the pain and death they had witnessed behind the hastily drawn curtain. Say your goodbye. The …
Oh, Mother!
I think we all know mothers are strong, wise and beautiful women. The moms in my family were no exception. I bet you also realize moms have little time on their hands most days. Which is why I'm posting a short-n-sweet rerun about motherhood, so we can all kick back and savor our breakfast …
And so it begins…
My son turned thirteen last month. Thirteen. You know, the age their eyes roll back into their heads and molten lava starts shooting out from every orifice. So many, many things changed in an instant. The day after he became a teenager, he announced at breakfast, "Mom, I need to do some chores because I need some money. …
Mom For Hire
The following post I wrote over three years ago and I'm reposting it because I have little time to write lately. In case you're wondering the snow in Maine finally melted so I'm spending every waking moment outside. Plus I'm tired. So damn tired. Happy Mother's Day! OBJECTIVE To prove that when you notice the huge 10 …
Planting the Seeds of Change
"An eye for an eye is just wrong, Mom." My 12-year-old son was explaining his feelings on law and order from thousands of years ago. His homework was to determine if justice involved cutting off a person's hand if he were caught stealing food. "Why is it wrong? Wasn't he wrong to steal?" I asked …
La La La, I Can’t Hear You!
Today at breakfast my 11-year-old son informed me he had good news and bad news. Not only was he finally allowed to bring his recorder home from music class but he was going to take his first puberty class at school. I'm still trying to figure out which was the good news. Later that afternoon after he slid …
Phone Calls
Talking to a young child on the phone is an exercise in patience. The endless grueling-marathon kind of exercise that gets you nowhere fast and ends with you repeatedly jamming your smart phone into your eye socket. Yesterday I was out on errands and needed to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy for my husband. …
Deep Thoughts by Little Miss J
My daughter is six and a half years old and tends to be a wee bit dramatic at times. She's also much smarter than I'll ever be. The other morning she flew into my bedroom, eyes ablaze, and wailed, "Oh, Mommy! It's just not fair! I mean, seriously! Seriously!" She threw herself onto my bed. "Like, …
She's A Maineiac 