daily life
Adult Conversation!
July 20th, 2012 | daily life takes a village
I stole away to bookgroup this week, leaving Jay and a friend watching the kids. What a pleasure to be with grownups, following the customs and traditions that until a few months ago were my primary ways of communicating and being with others.
Asynchronous Bonding
July 14th, 2012 | adoption daily life
It’s my ridiculous and persistent belief (or hope) that everyone is feeling just the way I am. Liking the same movies, digging the same books, feeling the same way about how the planet is going. The partner, of course, has it worst—all these dreams for enjoying everything together. Impossible, but unshakable.
Ready for Joy
July 11th, 2012 | daily life parenting
Can I just say, I’m a little sick of hearing myself complain about my kids?
Life Should Always Be Like Family Camp
June 27th, 2012 | adoption daily life
It’s a simple request, that I come to again and again in this life. Can’t it always be like this? Can’t I hold onto this one lovely movement and keep everything just the same?
Learning to Shut Up
June 6th, 2012 | daily life parenting
I think it’s a great skill to be able to mirror, reflect back, and participate in the conversation. My verbal abilities have gotten me this far in life, and I think I’m good at listening to and talking with the kids. But sometimes I really need to shut up.
Finding Our Rhythm
June 3rd, 2012 | daily life parenting
My mother had a rule while travelling: if an attraction had a star in the AAA Tourbook, we had to stop. Why would we leave a town without seeing everything the editors thought was worth a star? We moved quick, and we saw everything. On a 3- or 4-day trip to the Bay Area in my early teens, we saw Fisherman’s Wharf, Muir Woods, Alcatraz, Berkeley, the wine country, Stanford, The Winchester Mystery House, and Point Reyes. She loved it all. (In tribute to her far-reaching enthusiasms her ashes were scattered in many parts of the country and world, my bit near the lighthouse at Point Reyes.)
Peace
May 24th, 2012 | adoption daily life
There’s nothing like the sleepy, happy quiet that descends after all hell has broken loose, and things are restored. The crying stops, tempers calm down. You can hear small gusts of wind outside, the kids are asleep, and the last purple blue light makes everything through the window magical and gorgeous.
Week One
May 13th, 2012 | daily life takes a village
A full week of fulltime foster parenting.
The Camping Box
March 29th, 2012 | daily life holidays and celebrations
What a lovely bittersweet feeling to dig out the camping box before our recent, disastrous camping trip. The charred cookware, chipped plastic plates, and other musty survivors of outdoor adventures past are like a little hope chest. The wishes and dreams of the naturalist, the visions of perfect forest visits and lovely outdoor excitement, and rest.
Is There Still Time to Turn French?
March 14th, 2012 | daily life parenting
After wading through a couple very earnest books on adoption and parent-child attachment, what fun to come across Pamela Druckerman’s Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. I love this book!
The Thrill of the Jumble Sale
March 3rd, 2012 | daily life
The Oakland Museum White Elephant sale was just the ticket today: an exciting crush of people stomping through a giant warehouse, celebrating great finds, pawing through toys, furniture, clothes, Christmas decorations, artificial flowers, sporting equipment, and more.
Being a C Student
February 4th, 2012 | daily life parenting waiting and wanting kids
My twice-yearly dental cleanings are an interesting opportunity to feel like a completely mediocre achiever. I don’t think I’m incredibly lazy, or unable to follow directions. OK, I probably don’t brush for the full two minutes each time, but I floss twice a day (always!), and I try the different techniques that have been offered–circular! slower! angle up! count to 6!
Bunk to the Future
January 31st, 2012 | daily life waiting and wanting kids
We took a few down days, to process the adoption that didn’t happen, but then somehow swung back into action.
It Was the Comcast DNS Server!
January 16th, 2012 | daily life waiting and wanting kids
Eureka! Maybe fixing the small stuff is the answer to the big picture?
Saved Again by Yoga
December 8th, 2011 | daily life waiting and wanting kids
How can it be that something that’s helped so much, again and again, could be something I put off, skip, and delay until the very last minute?