An Apology Letter to My First Born:
An Apology Letter to My Firstborn Child: I recently read an apology letter another parent had written to their second born child, apologizing that he didn’t have a nice baby book or look as put together as the first born (“An Apology Letter to My Second Child” by Jennifer DeMattia). It reminded me of a conversation we had when you were lamenting the fact that you are the first born, recalling the pit falls to your place in our family. It got me thinking from your perspective and you are right....
Read MoreBoys Are Gross
Boys Are Gross! I know this sounds like a sexist, elementary school playground thing to say but, boys are gross! I have raised five boys and one girl and let me tell you, they are not the same. Maybe it’s just my girl and my boys. Maybe this generalization is unfounded. I will give you my first hand observations and let you decide. My girl is picky. She doesn’t like to try new foods and has actually made herself vomit over the texture of certain foods. We have had our food battles over...
Read MoreTeach Me
In our playroom, hang these words. My amazingly talented sister made them. They are a reminder to me of my primary job, to teach. Yes, I clean and cook and wash and wipe. Some days it seems that is all I do, but underlying everything, my job is to teach: to teach my children to obey, to listen, to respect; to teach them their ABC’s and 123’s; to teach them how to dance and sing and laugh; to teach them to clean up after themselves and say, “I’m sorry.”; to teach them the Word of God and...
Read MoreFull Hands
Full Hands Somewhere between two and three children the comments changed from smiles and gushing to, “Oh my, you have your hands full”. I have to agree. I do indeed have my hands full, as I did when I had one child, and two children. When my first was born, my whole world was transformed. I was responsible for the well-being and training of another human being. My hands were completely full. When our second was born and I had to adjust to mothering two, my hands were full. I can...
Read MoreBaby Choices
Baby Choices: The most nonsensical idea I ever embraced as a mom was to give your baby choices. The fact that I bought into it at all, I blame on DIPS (Dumbness Induced by Pregnancy Syndrome), a syndrome that I still have to this day. The reason I know I still have it is because I continue to give my babies choices, even though I know it is absurd. I recall reading in a baby magazine this idea when my first born was a baby. You can tell that they are targeting sleep deprived, fuzzy brained...
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