There's a widow in our community whom I have long known from afar. I wrote an open letter to her years ago, after her husband was shot and killed on duty as a law enforcement officer. I am pretty sure I spotted her in the corner booth at Chick-fil-A this week. Not in a creepy […]
On my birthday, I exhaled into a new word: Freedom. For nearly three weeks of my new age of 43, I've been letting this word show me what it means. So far, Freedom means giving away the shoes that hurt my feet. I have long heard women older than me say things like, "I am […]
I don't know if I've mentioned this recently, but Tuck is in tenth grade. He has far surpassed my height, he drives me all over town, and he bakes dinner at least once a week. He is taking a child development class this semester, and he has been learning and talking about words like breastfeeding, […]
Somehow, I have become the mom sitting by the mirrors outside the men's dressing room, while the sons try on jackets, pants, shirts, and vests to wear to Homecoming. More importantly, these guys have become tall enough, broad enough, and particular enough to wear clothes that require a tape measure for specificity and fit. (We […]
If she tells you she wishes her car got better gas mileage, that doesn't mean she wishes she'd never learned to drive. If she tells you she didn't like the middle of the book, that doesn't mean it wasn't worth reading. If she tells you she doesn't love her job, that doesn't mean she won't […]
I have turned forty-two. And so far, my senses are on hyperbolic overload with all that forty-two has already shown herself to be. Forty-two sounded like, "Good morning, my darling… Alexa, play." And then forty-two sounded like Peter dancing me around the living room to the song, "And I Love You So" while I was […]
I am writing in the library today. A mom and her little girl - probably four years old - walked by my spot near the movie section, and I heard the little girl begging her mom to get her The Naked Movie. Mom: "I'm sorry, what? I don't understand what you're asking me." Daughter: "I […]
"All I want for Mother's Day is a picture of my kids," she told us. Well, that's simple enough. Plus, we had spent a good decade-and-a-half under closely guided training from my dad on how to honor my mom on the days that belonged to her. One of the top rules: if she makes a […]
I made a fatal error this week. Its name is Easter Baskets. For a while I couldn't talk about it, but as all mistakes, I can now see what I wish I had seen. I can now share with you what I shall always remember. The Easter Baskets are a thing. I had this fleeting […]
Today, I said thank you to the Starbucks barista who made my Pumpkin Cream Cold Brew, even though she is complicit in my addiction. I won't press charges as long as she keeps making that goodness that unabashedly defines autumn for my soul. Today, I said thank you to my dad, who gave me a […]
It's been more than a decade since this Good Friday situation, the day Baby Tyler locked Toddler Tucker and me in a second story bedroom for an hour and a half, and our rescue involved three strangers, three firemen, a fire truck, three police officers, several calls to 9-1-1, and a very brave neighbor. An […]
Parents of Preschoolers and Toddlers, this season is the real deal, isn't it? You are in the t-r-e-n-c-h-e-s. When my guys were preschoolers, I had to have them out the door by 9:00am, or the house would surely crumble around us. I was sure of it, and my theory was fairly proven. And now, this […]
Looking through some old journals tonight, I found this dialogue from four-year-old Tucker: "Mommy, let's make a train. Tyler will be the engine and I'll be the caboose. You be the track." I wrote: That feels like the very definition of motherhood. All my love to of you "train tracks" out there. I raise […]
Have you noticed? We have become people who are counting. We are counting things. We are counting days. We are counting people on the walking trail. Counting people who are sick - and even sweeter, counting the people who have recovered. We have stepped into the forest, and we can literally count the trees. One […]
A few years ago, I kept things lively with a special treat for the boys each day of spring break. One day, we visited the arcade with a handful of quarters for their glorious spending pleasure. Tuck spent his coins on experiences: virtual motorcycle rides and shooting galleries. Tyler spent his coins and best efforts […]
My son witnessed an assault against a young woman in his P.E. Class. A situation of a young man wielding a hockey stick where it should never, ever go. The school administration handled it well, which is why I feel okay writing about it here. It doesn't need to be rehashed or revisited, but my […]
There are rules to this gig of Stage Mom. I'm a babe in the woods, learning as I go. For starters, Actors rehearse. Athletes practice. Ne'er shall the two be confused nor interchanged, except when I get it wrong. The only thing worse than when I accidentally call Tyler's rehearsal a "practice" is when I […]
Timehop is a lovely invention of an app. I love how it gently knocks on the door of my mind and says, "Would you like to know what you were doing on this very day for the last few years? Thanks to your contributions to the interwebs and social medias, we've documented it for you." […]
Scrolling through the photos on my iPhone, Tyler saw a candid picture of him and me at my 40th birthday party. He was shocked. "Mom, look this picture. What happened? I look so grown up." Yes, my love. So grown up. The line of your jaw. The crack in your voice. The breadth of your […]
Creature of wonder, man-child of mine. You look like a puzzling and impossible blend of genetics, of his eyebrows and her nose, a mix of the boy who you have always been and the man you are becoming. You look like the preschooler who lined up his blueberries around the rim of the breakfast plate, […]
