Posts tagged “family

This is What My 40s Feel Like

Posted on November 9, 2014

That title is not a sweeping statement for all people in their forties. This is specifically written about me. Navel-gazing, me-me-me in full effect. Largely in part because I have been in a funk and I read this little wisp of wonder over at Cup of Jo and it struck me as incredibly wise. Here are the words: It doesn’t make sense to call ourselves ugly, because we don’t really see ourselves. We don’t watch ourselves sleeping in bed, curled up and silent with chests rising and falling with our own rhythm. We don’t see ourselves reading a book, eyes fluttering and glowing. You don’t see yourself looking at someone with love and care inside your heart. There’s no mirror in your way when…

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Hints of What Matters Amid the Chaos

Posted on October 22, 2014

  Time is doing that thing, that thing that reveals how fast it goes even while some days seem to last for weeks. It isn’t the back-to-school blur or a concentration of deadlines at work, though those are both real and present. It’s the toss of hair and expressiveness of Finley’s eyebrows, her declarations of, “It’s just odd!” followed by a quick scan of the room to see if we all caught how mature she is. It’s Briar slipping quietly into a private realm, emotions and Minecraft, daydreams and song lyrics. The way Avery thrashes in the night, limbs too long for her pjs and shocks of hair that when tucked behind her ear, reveal new hollows in her face. I buck against the…

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The Wisdom of it Being About the Journey

Posted on September 7, 2014

  We worked over the weekend. We had thought it would be a bit of a sneak-attack getaway, but it turns out that photo shoots at watermarks, no matter how amazing the resort or how kind the staff, are challenging on little sleep with three kids. We made the most of it, but the drive home was a gauntlet—missed turns, weak bladders, construction, stopped ferries, and all sorts of other impediments…I did some snapping, the girls did some whining, Sean might’ve done some selective hearing, and then at some point we just gave up. “Another bathroom break? Sure, why not,” and then at that convenience store (beautiful, because it was in Vermont) we encountered a graduation party with a live band, so we snacked on bananas…

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Her Loving Arms

Posted on March 26, 2014

The other day I shared about our house and our marriage, the thing that has stayed with me in reflecting on those closest to me, is that we weren’t alone. There was a tree in our front yard, it bore the battle wounds of telephone poles and Adirondack storms. It was very nearly split down its center to accommodate the lines and from the nourishment the bugs infesting it gave the pileated woodpeckers that rat-a-tatted morning and night. Shade and music were abundant in its limbs, and time and again we tricked the workers into thinking the tree was not to go. “Ma’am, we’re here to manage the trees for National Grid. The one out around back and this one out front are on…

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Like the present

Posted on February 7, 2014

They started warning of a storm on Sunday, by Tuesday excitement was crackling, kids and parents alike were talking about backwards pjs and upside down spoons to help the storm along. It look incredibly flat and unremarkable to me. I kept the girls’ excitement in check with mild clucking and, “I don’t know girls, it doesn’t look very snowy.” They begrudgingly did their homework, but not before making me promise that they could go skiing with Sean if school was, in fact, cancelled. “Sure, but only if you get a good night’s sleep, ok?” I warned. They squirmed and giggled. Briar said, “Hey mom, since it’s almost, not quite, but-really-could-be-a-snow-day tomorrow can we do a sleepover tonight?” “Oh yes, mom. It is almost like…

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