For almost 40 years now, my body has been a work in progress. What started as the translucent body of a longed-after-baby has transformed through the years from the skin-and-bones body of a daredevil toddler, to the supple body of …
The Self-Care Analogy That Curls My Toes
People love to preach self-care to new mothers and almost always follow up with the line, “You have to put on your own oxygen mask first, you know.” If we are trying to clarify how a mother should prioritize her …
Why Is It so Hard to Say “I’m Sorry” and Really Mean It?
It seems easy enough, right? We tell our children to apologize and “mean it.” But we see them struggle to conjure up sincerity when they are still hot from the difficult moment. Moms are sometimes guilty of oversimplifying this lesson …
It’s Too Dangerous to Love Myself
My story is not unlike those of countless other postpartum moms: pregnancy changed my body in ways I didn’t expect, and even once I lost most of the “baby weight,” I struggled to accept that my body had rearranged itself. …
The Unbirthday
In Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, Alice stumbles upon a rather strange tea party in which she encounters the Mad Hatter and the March Hare known by all as utterly nutty. These poor fellows find themselves trapped in a constant …
When I Feel I am Too Much
Guilt is my go-to emotion. It is like that perfect little black dress that goes with anything. I can dress it up, I can dress it down. It works for every occasion! Honestly, I don’t think it is just me …
Magic in the Mundane
Years ago, I had a dreamlike idea of what motherhood would look like. It looked like the time I babysat a 3-year-old boy at the park and we threw sticks over the side of a bridge, laughing hysterically. It looked …
Embracing Differences: In-law Edition
My husband married a woman unlike the women in his family. His mother and sisters are logical, organized and have lots of common sense. They’re great planners, they can spot a problem from a mile away. They’re brilliant, gorgeous, funny. …
How I’m Choosing to Parent Differently Because I’m Married to a Man That Used to Look at Porn
I don’t want to be different! I want to fit in, be part of the crowd! No, this is not your child talking. It’s me – hitting my fists against a pillow. Resisting, screaming, begging to be normal. So many questions surface: Will …
How the Shattering Pain of Betrayal Made Me Kinder
I really didn’t know what it was like to suffer from heart break until I was in my mid to late-twenties. Sure, life hadn’t been perfect before then — I had felt pain before. But this was different. This was a kind …