Project: Simplify 2012 – Week One: The Boys’ Room

Mar 07

I’ve long been a fan of Tsh’s Simple Mom blog and her quiet, thoughtful tips for leading a simpler, more intentional life. I read her book, Organized Simplicity, last year after Baby Sister was born and, though I was tempted by visions of clutter-free closets and a playroom with fewer trip hazards, I never took [...]

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Biting the Hand that Feeds Me

Feb 29

See those fingers over there? Those are my fingers. You can only see three of them, but I assure you the other seven look the same: the cuticles ragged, the nails bitten down to the nub, the occasional scratch or burn for added character. I’ve bitten my nails for as long as I can remember. [...]

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The Best Laid Plans

Feb 22

In honor of my daughter’s first birthday, I am taking this month to tell the story of the wild way she came into the world and our family. You can read the first and second chapters here and here. It didn’t happen the way it does in the movies – the perky pregnant mom, decked [...]

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Watchful Waiting

Feb 08

Baby Sister turned one on Saturday. In honor of her birth, I am taking this month to tell the story of the wild way she came into the world and our family. Please click here to read the first part of the story. Just over a day after I arrived at the Labor and Delivery [...]

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Birth Story

Feb 01

Baby Sister will turn one on Saturday. (My baby is almost one! How did this happen?!) In honor of her birth, I will be taking the next four weeks to tell the story of the wild way she came into the world and our family. On a sparkling blue Sunday morning last January, I gleefully [...]

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Reality Killed the Daytime Soap Star

Jan 25

Back in grade school, I could be off the bus and at my front door by 2:50 p.m., leaving just enough time to change out of my uniform, grab a Little Debbie snack cake, and take a seat in front of the television for that day’s episode of Guiding Light. During the years I watched [...]

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When the Student is Ready

Jan 18

I was never that good at coaching – in the traditional sense, at least. During the nine years I was a teacher, I spent seven as a coach: of basketball, of softball, of lacrosse. The best coaching I did was when I headed up a junior varsity girls’ high school basketball team. My own love [...]

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There is No Best Way

Jan 11

I have been a parent for four years, four months, and eight days. I’m not sure how many of those days it took for me to realize the only truism of parenting: There is no one right way to do any of this. — We worked on potty training this weekend with our two year [...]

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Reflections

Jan 04

I know I’m not the first or the only person moved at the beginning of January to reflect on the year that just ended. But, when I saw Tsh’s list of 20 questions for reflecting on 2011 over at Simple Mom, I knew I wanted to stop and write on them. What can I say? Cliche, thy [...]

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Have Yourself a Merry Little Birthday

Dec 21

The following is a Public Service Announcement on behalf of all children celebrating a birthday this week or next. My birthday is on Saturday. Christmas Eve. Growing up as a Catholic kid who went to Catholic school in a largely Catholic community, I sometimes felt like my birthday got lost in the Christmas shuffle. Now [...]

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