Tag Archives: parenthood

Making Sense Is Underrated

Why yes, please, my dear 2-year-old, go right ahead and play demolition derby with grandma’s glass figurines on that solid marble countertop.  It’s so much better than watching you have an epic meltdown because of my concern for your safety. When was the last time that choice was a viable option for a parent? You know that what you do for your children is for their own good.  Unfortunately, most kids could care less about the rules of parenthood.  In fact, the vast majority of what you do to ensure their well being makes absolutely no sense to them. They … Continue reading →

Resisting the Urge to Interfere

All last week my 14-year-old daughter was at camp, about 3 hours away from home. It was all middle school kids who were told to not bring their cell phones. Since I was in North Carolina, I missed that information at a parent meeting. So the next morning when I dropped her off at church, she mentioned her phone was low on battery but that she couldn’t bring the charger because she wasn’t supposed to really have it. Yes, just minutes before she is leaving. I didn’t make too much of it and said my goodbyes. It was hard having … Continue reading →

Pregnancy and Excited Insomnia

It’s pretty much guaranteed that I will wake up at some point in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. At first I regularly awoke at five o’clock in the morning. As the baby grows my nightly bathroom break has moved more regularly to three o’clock in morning. Largely this regular occurrence rarely disrupts my sleep too much. Last night, however, after my early morning bladder relief I could not get back to sleep. I was experiencing a slight case of insomnia. I tried and I tried to doze back off to sleep for two hours. Finally, at … Continue reading →

A New Club

I recently found out that two of my co-workers have children. Since these two individuals hold positions in academia that I aspire to it was nice to know that I wouldn’t be alone in parenthood. I’m certainly feeling the gentle tug of doubt this semester as I am still in preparation for my final exams. Since I’m also teaching, doing graphic design, working on my dissertation, and staying home with our son my time feels shorter than ever. With a book constantly by my side and a computer never far away I am constantly aware of the amount of work … Continue reading →

What If You’re Not Pregnant?

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(Excuse me while I go all “philosophical” on you.) You’ve spent the last week swinging back and forth between feelings of anticipation and feelings of dread. One minute you’re looking at baby shoes with a heart full of hope; the next minute you’re gripped with disappointment, trying to convince yourself you are not pregnant so you don’t get your hopes up. The truth is, in your mind, you are neither pregnant nor not pregnant. You are in limbo; you simply don’t know. You are aware that limbo cannot exist when it comes to pregnancy, but you are too uncomfortable with … Continue reading →

Skills to Master Before Your Baby Arrives

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Becoming a mom requires a whole new set of skills. Besides the obvious skills like changing diapers, feeding and bathing the baby, you have to relearn how to do all sorts of things for yourself, too. Just for fun, here are some things you might want to learn in advance, before you bring your baby home. Speed Eating A newborn’s needs are urgent, yet unpredictable. You never know when they will wake up and suddenly need to be fed. You might be in the middle of dinner, but they won’t care! To make sure you get to eat, you have … Continue reading →

Mother or Single Mother

When you tell people that you are a parent (and this article can be about Dads too), how do you identify yourself? Do you tell them you are the “mother of two” (or one or three or whatever) or do you describe yourself as a “single mother”? I think it is interesting how we identify and think of ourselves when it comes to our role as single parents. Do you find that you temper your self-description to fit the audience or person you are meeting? I find that most of the time, I tend to clarify that I am a … Continue reading →

Finding Joy in Parenthood

Children are truly a blessing. It is a privilege to be a parent. At times it is easy to become frustrated in the busyness of parenthood. Children have bad days and so do parents, and so it is important to step back from time to time and really think about what you love about being a parent as well as things that you would like to do better. It is also important to take time to live in the moment, because the time seems to go by much too quickly. This week I’ve been blessed to see the cute and … Continue reading →

Why it Doesn’t Feel Like Sacrifice

The other day I was chatting with a friend of mine who does not have kids and in a casual conversation I was just talking about things that were going down in my little family household. This friend said something to the effect of: “I don’t know how you can always be sacrificing for your kids that way!” It caught me off guard as I realized that I don’t usually feel like I’m sacrificing at all… Little things like taking a lukewarm shower so that my kids can have a hot one when we’re all trying to get ready to … Continue reading →

You are Not Their Best Friend

Here is where things can get confusing—we want to have good, bonded, respectful relationships with our children, we want them to trust us and tell us what is going on in their lives, we may even want to be friendly with them when they are adults—BUT while we are the responsible parenting raising a minor child, we still need to have the authority and we can get into trouble if we try first and foremost to be their buddy or their best friend… Whenever I hear a parent says something like “My child and I are best friends” or “My … Continue reading →