I wanted a book to help me understand my daughter better and connect with her even more, but what I read in the book was information I feel like I already knew, and feelings I already felt. At first I thought the book wasn’t for me, that it wasn’t what I was looking for, but maybe it was exactly what I needed. The book made me realize I already have a good understanding and connection with my daughter. I agree with other reviewers that the book is a little redundant, and at times I did wonder if it really was a 13 year old boy’s writing. Then my five year old would come up to me while I was r ..read more

Sense and Sensibility was my book of the summer. I never meant for it to be my sole book of the summer, but being a mom to two little ones, along with a new puppy, an old fat cat, and an exhausting 9-5, it was indeed, my only book of the summer. Quite a while ago, before tantrums and preschool drop off, I read Pride and Prejudice. And I fell in love with it. It didn’t surpass Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, which is my absolute favorite classic novel, but it was enjoyably romantic. So, Sense and Sensibility was always next on my Jane Austen list because it seemed to be her second most popular ..read more

Tuesday of this week was the first day of school. My oldest (4) is in his third year, while it was my youngest’s (2) first day of school ever. While it was exciting knowing that she was moving on to the next phase of development, it was still nerve-racking letting her go. Added to the normal nerves of dropping my child off at school for the first time, was the anxiety of dropping my child with autism off at school for the first time. I worried about a lot more than I did when I dropped (4) off for his first day: What if she didn’t understand that I couldn’t stay? What if she screamed and crie ..read more

1.) Why, as women, are we considered the weaker sex? First of all, parts of our bodies’ literally contract every month, and we’re expected to walk around like nothing is going on. Second of all, we give birth. Our bodies split in fucking half, and a few days later, we again, go on as if everything’s cool. I could go on, but lastly, women are expected to do it all. Bleeding after you just gave birth to your second or later child? Oh well, the family needs to eat so tote them all to the grocery store why one’s cranky and the rest won’t stop talking, so you can do mental math in your head, while ..read more

I thought about the title to this entry about six months ago. It was the middle of December, and our entire household came down with COVID. It started with my, then three year old, who surprisingly, only had a rash and a slight fever as symptoms. Otherwise, he was still jumping off couches, eating toothpaste, and refusing to nap, you know, the usual. The two year old was next with fever, tiredness, whining, and refusing to eat. Then came my partner’s turn: fever, tiredness, chills, headache, and lack of appetite, followed by myself with his same symptoms. I bring all this up to point out we w ..read more

Growing up we went on the occasional family vacation, but I want my kids to experience more than I did. So, we went on our first family vacation last year when our kids were three and one. We rented a cabin in the woods, with steps to our own private beach on Lake Michigan for our first vacation. It was red and vintage, exactly how I imagined, with a screened in porch to watch the sunset and listen to the waves below. It was unbelievably memorable, for a variety of reasons. Although it was exactly what I was looking for, bugs, especially ants and spiders, which are abundant in the woods, wer ..read more

When I get a new idea, which I do often, I hit the ground running, so excited by the prospect of making my dreams turn into reality. However, I soon run into a problem, pretty much every time. I have so many ideas that it’s hard to do everything I want, and I want to do everything right now. So, out of all my ideas, some I do more than others, and some I hardly do at all. In June, I did a lot and a little. Some of my ideas: · Buy more ferns for found accent tables. · Paint accent tables with flowers. · Pot small plants to put on painted crate/shelf I finally finished. · Write and submit creat ..read more

To everyone celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, congratulations! You can now sleep soundly knowing that in most of our country, many unwanted babies who are now destined for a life of unimaginable suffering and pain, will have had the privilege of being birthed. To call yourself pro-life, you have to actually care about the quality of life a child will experience after they’ve been birthed. Are you going to support increased funding for Medicaid, food stamps, free daycare, and housing for these children and their parents? No? I didn’t think so. Are you going to s ..read more

Usually, memories are made by looking back on single moments and realizing, in hindsight, how special they were. What at the time seems small, even insignificant, in the end means the most. Motherhood May started out cold and rainy. We spent day after day staring out the windows wishing to be out there, wishing for sun, and warmth, and green grass, and trees with leaves. And then finally, even though it was later that usual this year, spring arrived. We woke up to a warm sun and inviting morning air, a gentle breeze, and a light blue sky. Spending our days outside, enjoying the open air invig ..read more

I’m an introvert. And I’m a feminist. When most people think of feminists, they picture an outspoken, extroverted woman. A woman marching down the street or picketing on a corner, a woman yelling and demanding her rights. They envision groups of women organizing and planning, and vehemently talking about their message, together, always together, and always extroverted. However, as an introvert, I’ve always done my best work alone. The intensity of groups always gives me anxiety and squashes my creative thinking. Most groups have one or two leaders and the rest just follow along with an idea t ..read more