We celebrated my older son Gian’s 15th birthday this weekend.  Maybe it’s because of Covid or maybe it’s hormonal, but for some reason, 15 feels very monumental.   We even broke out the party fish we first put up on his second birthday in Philly so many years ago.   I wrote in his card, thank you for choosing papa and I to be your parents.  I wrote that I’ll never forget that feeling in the car on the way to the hospital.   I told him that I was uncertain.  Uncertain what kind of mom I’d be and what kind of baby he’d be. Uncertain ..read more

A GURU is defined as a spiritual teacher or guide.    And I believe the wisest and most influential gurus are not only the abstract concept of the sage elder you have in your head but also the humans living inside your home right this very moment. You don’t have to search the world to find your guru, she’s probably sitting across from you right now with peanut butter and jelly caked to the sides of her mouth or gently snoring in the bed beside you. You don’t need to travel to an ashram in India like Elizabeth Gilbert to be enlightened.  Quite the opposite really, our great ..read more

For years, I thought enjoying Valentine’s Day was in total opposition to my feminist ideologies and my refusal to take part in the world’s fascination with consumerism. I subscribed to the idea that Valentine’s Day was a Hallmark holiday and one that I was too informed to get caught up in. I rationalized I didn’t need a single day to tell my people I loved them, I did this everyday. Once I started getting more curious about myself and what makes me tick as a person, I realized quite the opposite was true. I’m truth, I like everything that Valentine’s Day stands for. First let’s start with the ..read more

I had an aha moment this weekend at Target. I’m a shopping cart control freak. I am a chronic cart pusher.  I like to take control of the shopping cart.  My oldest son and I walked into Target for just a few things. I didn’t even have enough stuff to warrant a cart, but I grabbed one nonetheless. “I can push it,”  Gian said nonchalantly.  “Ok,” I replied hesitantly.   And I tried to be chill, really I did. But I had a physical reaction to Gian pushing that cart.  It felt like this:  I felt like I lost something. I kept grabbing at it; I huffed when it w ..read more

I have been in survival mode for a couple months.  Survival mode means something different for everyone. But for me, it meant losing touch with the stillness I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know in short bursts over the last couple years.  I would say STILLNESS and I are in the courting stages of our relationship.  I love her when she visits, but it’s hard for me to get back in touch when she leaves me on read. And stillness is a bit of a buzzword these days.  All of these wellness words: meditation, stillness, peace, flow,  cultivate- they all land differently d ..read more

Note to self, you can’t want to be more peaceful without putting in the work. There are things that help you tap into a more flowing life. If you find yourself tapping into them more infrequently than you were, take a look at your life. Are you putting in time? The morning is my favorite time to ground myself before the week. Tons of little hiccups have kept me from making this time a priority lately: my mom, my birthday (which sent me into quite a tailspin this year), Covid, kitchen remodel, work stress, my kids’ busy schedules, you name it. Meditation works to calm your nervous system. I fi ..read more

My brother and sister in law sent me a text message last night.  It was a beautiful one.  They said don’t forget to see the beauty in the pain.  Anyone who has ever lost someone they truly love understands these words immensely.   My mom is dying.  She is on hospice in the end stages of  the dehumanizing disease of dementia.  And yet somehow I still find beauty everyday.   My boys’ uncontrollable laughter, the pink and orange sky at sunset, my husband’s stoic optimism hiding all of his fears, my silly preschool students I treat for speech thera ..read more

All parenting takes strength and courage, but I think being a special needs parent is a super power. It’s taking familial responsibility to a whole next level. And discovering your Unlikely Guru is a form of freedom and empowerment in that process. Being the Guru for your family means having the confidence to trust yourself. It means knowing when to ask for help.  I’m an Unlikely Guru but I still get overwhelmed. Take for example, my son and our recent trip to the orthodontist.   My oldest son has a severe unilateral hearing loss. This tends to manifest with some sensory differ ..read more

I play a lot of roles: wife, mom, daughter, SLP, friend, coworker, homeowner. I write to make sense of them all. Writing is my creative outlet.  I often forget this, and I don’t access this outlet. When I start thinking about putting myself out there on social media, I worry about all the wrong things. When I reacquaint myself with my writing, I remember my goal is not to have a ton of IG followers. The goal is to write. I have a lot to say. I have a lot I want to share. Here’s why I write. WHY DO I WRITE? I write to inform an opinion that parents who are willing to take on inner growth ..read more

I was inspired to start a blog by Brandi Carlile. I heard her music for years, but it wasn’t until I saw her live that I actually heard her heart speak to mine on stage. It was powerful. I was in awe of someone putting her heart out like that in front of so many people. Let the chips fall where they may be was not a motto I had yet learned to embrace. The seed had been planted though. After that show, I revisited all the essays I had been writing for years. I wondered if I could share them with just one person with just a shred of Brandi’s vulnerability without my head exploding fro ..read more