I’ll never forget an experience I had shortly after my first child was born. Just a few weeks old, I had dressed him up to go to our place of worship. After settling down in my seat (after two hours of getting ready – why exactly does it take so long to get a tiny […]
Kids don’t need toys, reason #578
At least once a week, my husband and I will look at one another after watching a child play with a cardboard box, and say: “Kids don’t need toys.” There are many, many other occasions that elicit this observation. Recently, I bagged up all of the toys of one of my children after a particularly […]
In which I am mean and force my kids to be bored
This post on Modern Mrs. Darcy (In praise of being bored) reminded me of a topic I’m passionate about: boredom and “kids these days“. Our children need never be bored because of handheld devices that can easily take up every moment of their spare time. (The same is true, of course, of adults. Long ago […]
One year
Today is January 19. If my youngest child had been born on his due date, he would be one year old today. Instead, he is 15 months old. If you’re new here, you can read our preemie story here. I’m working on this page a little at a time, and at this moment it’s not […]
Parenting “lasts”
Parenting “firsts” get all the fanfare. Baby’s first steps. The first day of school. The first time your teenager drives the family car. Etc. Right now Josiah is at the age where the firsts are happening almost daily. Look, mom, I figured out how to help you rearrange those books you just neatly stacked up. […]
How to get your 3 year old to take her “nasty medicine”
I have officially named this year (or so – it began last October with my son’s extremely early birth) The Year of the Medical Event. Looking back on my calendar for the past several months, I’ve had 6-8 or more medical events or doctor’s appointments each month. Have a mentioned that going to the doctor/dentist […]
Babies Can’t Wait
“Do you have any other concerns listed here, or see any resources on this page that we can help connect you with?”, she asked, flipping the page around so I could read it across the desk, pen in hand. I scanned the page briefly, but saw nothing relevant in its tidy boxes. My baby has […]
My premonition came true, sort of
Last week I feared that my preemie’s sickness would land us back in the hospital, but it was my 5 year old daughter that ended up hospitalized. Saturday, as we were just about to walk out the door to go to a local foodie festival, Ruby ran out the door early, as usual. A minute […]
Be careful what you wish for
It’s a terrible thing to wish that time would speed up. I don’t normally fall prey to this trap. I know it’s difficult to be happy when you aren’t present. But I would venture to guess that many mothers of extremely premature babies feel the same. Josiah decided to make all my anxieties about his […]
Mosaic: things I’ve learned about stepfamilies
For years, I’ve wanted to create my own mosaic table. Plates, tea cups, mugs, glasses are constantly getting broken in a house with several kids, and the idea of creating something lovely and useful out of broken things really appeals to me. Last Monday my husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary. Since the […]