Time & Identity

A few days ago I updated my bio to say I’m the mother of 3. My youngest is 3 months old now and my oldest is 5, soon to be 6. I’ve been breastfeeding for almost 6 years straight, with a 3 month break when my oldest weaned at 20 months and his sister didn’t arrive for 3 more months....

When it finally gets cold enough to use the heat for the first time in a long time, I fire it up to take the chill out of the living room early in the morning. Even though the central heat I have now that I control from my phone with my Nest thermostat is a huge upgrade from the old...

Looking in the mirror, at myself in the reflection, And I can’t help but feel grateful. My body has given me so many gifts, in just 38 short years. Movement, This body has taken  me to mountain tops,  swimming, climbing,  hiking, walking and dancing. Strength, These arms have held  and comforted fussy toddlers. These thick thighs,  and strong muscles,  have...

You are one year old today. Daycare starts in three days. You are standing up, almost ready for yourfirst steps. You want to talk, you are talking already. Your own language only you understand.You are one year old today, and I am back to work. After a whole year of parental leave, I only get to seeyou in the morning...

Today is the day that all parents envision, when they bring their little’s into this world. A day that felt so far away and is already here. I have to be honest, this day came so much faster  than I could have ever imagined. Seems like just yesterday, I was comforting the parents of my Kindergarten students, giving them courage,...

The love a mother has with her child is vulnerable  In no other relationship will someone know you  from the guts In no other love will they touch the ugliness of you and  still call it  home

The ocean in me swells with a warning: It’s the salt that alters fresh water to brine. (His salt). I once grew a blooming reef and sheltered a tiny, silvery fish ‘til she was ready to slip through the coral archway. She took the reef with her. It’s okay, I tell myself. I like feeling still. Too much salt kills....

"Three in one Kids Shampoo/Conditioner/Body Wash”  “Children’s All Natural Scented Bubble Bath”  “Kids Watermelon Body Wash and Bubble Bath” These are the words written across the bottle labels perched on our bathtub. As I sat cross-legged on the semi-soaked floor-mat during bath time tonight, a feeling of longing and panic sank a hole deep in my chest; when did all...

The story of  a mother’s love is that it’s limitless  implicit  The first  love we know and the last  love we  cry out for But I know  mothers  and the love I see is deep in the bones wavers between  firm and yielding  can be fractured is holy and  imperfect

Liz and Richard sold everything, finally married, and moved to Japan and we are waiting Niki, Melvin, and Penny took a month off as a family, drove across the country, and moved to Oregon and we are waiting It is not like me to be stagnant to be repetitive to leave and come home, leave and come home, leave and...