May 2017 Blog – Change Submission Deadline: Due Date: April 28 (600-900 word count) Change is inevitable; regardless if we welcome it with open arms or fight it off with clenched fists, it happens. How we choose to engage with change …
The Habit of Positivity
If you could look inside my brain you might be surprised to find some pretty negative thoughts: “Nothing works out,” “Everything is too hard,” “He always forgets,” “They always leave messes.” Do I have optimistic thoughts as well? Yes … …
A Tribe of Foreigners
We were all born foreigners. Our mothers’ wombs forced us to depart from the cozy comfort of a tiny space out into the cool, wide-open, confusion of the world. We were likely flung into the scent of humans, of antiseptic, …
Finding My Village
Following the birth of my first child, I felt as if I had walked through a veil; one that separated me from my previous life. I was in awe of how different my new life had become. I was in …
Olly Olly Oxen Free
“Eight, nine, ten … ready or not here I come!” Giggles unmistakably coming from behind the curtains. Doing my best to play along, I feign a search throughout the living room making my way toward the window. Unable to control …
Rebuilding Our Village
The transition to two children was more difficult than my husband and I expected. This wasn’t due to lack of sleep or a needy big sister. Welcoming our second child came with some of my loneliest days. Our daughter was …
Red Zone to Green Zone Community
Ten years ago, my husband and I started playing soccer and helping kids with their homework at an apartment complex in our Chicago suburb. One afternoon, we overheard a police officer refer to these apartments as a “red zone” – …
A Village of Mothers
When we got married, my husband and I agreed we would wait at least three years to have children. This was a compromise between him saying, “Let’s have a baby right now, our clocks are ticking!” and me saying, “I’m …
The Bond Never Broken
It started out as a journey to friendship. There we were, in a massive new city, and I knew two or three people, none of whom had children. But I had heard about this mom group that met at the …