This is a shout out to my fellow single parents out there… This shit is hard. I want to write something eloquent and heartfelt with a side of gentle humor. But I can’t really muster that right now. And also, I’m thinking that instead of waiting for me to collect all …
mothered by love
I am Jeanette. Daughter of Doreen Granddaughter of Charlotte Great Granddaughter of Alice. Mother of Julianna Amelie Grace and Isabella Charlotte Rose This is my motherline. I was mothered in a way that gave me freedom, and voice, and a path of my own. I was mothered to see good, …
The Truth Of A Woman Like Me
“So yes I know how angry, or naive, or self-destructive, or messed up, or even deluded I sound weaving my way through these life stories at times. But beautiful things. Graceful things. Hopeful things can sometimes appear in dark places. Besides, I’m trying to tell you the truth of a …
Julianna Amelie Grace – 8 years
My Julianna Amelie Grace. Eight years. How is it possible? We’ve sure lived some life together since then. More changes than I ever could have imagined possible on the stormy night you were born. More joy. More sadness. More celebration. More heartache. More crazy, brilliant, goofy, silliness. Transition after transition …
the powerful energy of love {a mother’s call for help}
Those of you who have been here for a while know her as my Dear One. To many who are newer, you might have read my words and think she is my lover – but she is not and has never been, in this lifetime at least. We’ve decided that …
Dearest Isabella {a birthday letter}
Dear Isabella, Eleven years ago today I welcomed you into the world. You were everything I had dreamed. From your birth story: With a rush that was almost anti-climactic her body slid out of mine and my husband and midwife brought her up out of the warm water and onto …
magic balm
There is no clock in my room at the summer house, not even an electrical outlet. It’s one of those undetermined witching hours between midnight and dawn. I am drowsy but not asleep, struggling with the wicked combination of jet lag and a brain that has the propensity to buzz …
let her doodle
she doodles everywhere. faces and shapes and lines. simple and complex. fantastical, nonsensical free flow and elaborate, deliberate worlds. on letters, and envelopes, and the back of her sisters advent calendar. on the clipboard attached to the wall above my desk. on checks waiting to make it into my bank …
a mama’s heart.
I have a mama’s heart. It may have something to do with the two girls who lie now in their rooms just down the hall from where I sit tonight pecking away on my keyboard. The older, stuffy nose and red swollen eye be damned, is stealing a last few …
art is always real
We were in Julie’s room one night, my eldest daughter and I. I wanted to show her how the canvas painting she had carefully labored over for Julie’s Christmas gift was framed and hung on the wall. I said, gazing at her masterpiece with no small amount of motherly pride, …
teachable moments
Teachable moments. As parents we know to look out for those fleeting instances where life and learning come together effortlessly. A trip to the grocery store teaches colors and counting to a toddler, a donation to the food bank brings opportunity to discuss poverty and hunger. Life swirls around us …