December 2011

Mothering Like Mary

Over the Christmas season our family, as is common in our faith, has read, sang and shared the story of the Nativity on multiple occasions. One such activity led to a short conversation about Mary with my daughters. Both, out of the blue, expressed the desire to have been Jesus’ mother (and not just to act […]

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The Gift of Balance

I am honored to have been invited to be a resident balance expert at Real Stress Solutions, a project begun by Angela Bussio. My first post for the site is here on my number one way to give yourself the gift of balance. I invite you to dive in and be thinking about (or better yet acting on) […]

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A Birth Story for All Mothers

Baby boy is three. Fiesty, mischievous and finally (it took til the fourth child) introducing us to the joys of permanent marker on the walls, scaling impossible-to-climb surfaces and the shortest alpha male you’ve ever seen. His birth was eagerly awaited. We knew he was our last, and I’d lost two pregnancies prior. I honestly […]

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How Have High Needs and Special Needs Kids Influenced Your Life?

A Rough Start My brother was born at 26 weeks. He is a living, breathing, 6′+ strapping miracle of a man who now runs a cattle property, builds stuff, has a wonderful family, and is an all-round he-man in Australia. Not onelasting affect (other than a ferocious temper – you’ve got to be a fighter to […]

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Six Keys to Opting In (or Career & Skills Emergency Preparedness 101)

This is the second is a series of three posts focused on those who have mothered (and fathered) at home for a substantial period of time, the so-called ‘opt out’ cadre. I am passionate about what these parents (yes I was (am?) one) bring to the table of companies and communities if and when the […]

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Do you remember polio or have dear ones who were affected?

It gets harder to be motivated about vaccinating when the affects of the diseases themselves are a distant memory, or we never even experienced them. Polio touches me through my mother’s dearest friend, who is my “Aunt” and is the same age as my mother. Her experience, her constant health struggles and her incredible strength […]

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How do you speak about yourself as a mother?

I got some amazing advice a few years back. Watch your language! And I’m not talking about having a potty mouth! Watch how you refer to yourself. We so flippantly “write-off” this part of who we are. Whether it’s “oh, there’s my ‘mom brain’ again!” or “I’m ‘just’ a mother” or “I’m such a bad […]

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Why Does My 7 Year Old Think She’s Fat?

There is steam coming out of my ears this morning (and this right after a post on struggling with my temper). The anger is not directed at my children, nor anyone close to me. It is aimed squarely at our culture. An amorphous shape-shifting enemy that at this moment I don’t know how to fight. […]

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What has surprised you about yourself since becoming a mother?

I used to have a heck of a temper back in the day. I worked very hard on this part of my character in my 20s and I’ve got to tell you, by 30, the first adjective that came to mind from most to describe me was “calm.” Then in my mid-30s, the children began […]

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Did you have the mumps, or measles or chicken pox as a kid?

I had measles and chicken pox. Escaped the mumps. Phew. My three brothers all came down with chicken pox at a rare family vacation in New Zealand’s famous hot springs (we lived there at the time). Who knows who else they gave them to, as they’d been in hot pools all week long! Sure enough […]

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