admin, Author at Mothering in the Middle

Happy New Year!

Please find us now at www.forwomenoverforty.com and on WESUfm – 88.1 fm Tuesdays at 2:30 p.m. EST (live stream rewind and on archives)

Dear Readers:

Nearly seven years after launching my art gallery show, NURTURE: Stories of New Midlife Mothers – www.MidlifeMothers.org (the first and only show dedicated to presenting women choosing motherhood over 40) and this wonderful, inspirational blogsite, MotheringintheMiddle.com, which followed soon after, I have decided it is time to move on.

In addition to writing and speaking engagements, I am now the talk radio host of the weekly show, “For Women Over 40” – www.forwomenoverforty.com. (88.1fm) broadcast at WESU and available through the Pacifica Network. This work has taken me even further than what was started so long ago.

During these years, NURTURE has visited 13 venues throughout North America to accolades and much press. MotheringintheMiddle.com has garnered more than 150 writers – midlife mothers and fathers from seven countries, and experts working with this genre – representing nearly 950 essays. We also published The Zen of Midlife Mothering– the first anthology by and for this group.

Passionately dedicated to the topic of women choosing motherhood over 40, I originally created these projects to show society who we were and help provide these women with a voice, face and forum. However, the work became so much more: an opportunity to create our own community, a method for providing information, support, inspiration and guidance, and a place where midlife mothers (and then, fathers) could find that “aha” moment – that breath which followed the thought, “I am home,” and these are my peeps. […]

16 Steps for 2016!

It’s a New Year, so here are some ways to make life better for ourselves and those around us. Let’s incorporate these 16 steps for a better you in 2016!

Hope and dream
Accept yourself
Plan to read more
Pray for peace
Yearn to see goodness in all
Never hold a grudge
Enjoy new things
Wisdom prevails
You can give love
Eat healthy
Activate the mind and body
Respect your family
TO say I love you often
Yield to moving forward
Open your heart
Understand it all starts with you!

As I move forward in my journey as an empty nester, I am finding more time to focus on how to make this journey meaningful & joyful.

Happy New Year to You and Yours!

Lori Pelikan Strobel, forever 49, loves her two adult daughters, husband of over 30 years, her dog, Louie, dark chocolate, and red wine. Lori’s work and life experience has ranged from pharmaceutical sales representative, Pilates instructor, community college teacher, to a registered animal assisted therapy team. Lori can be found at: www.loripelikanstrobel.com, or on facebook. Her essay “Mom-On- Demand,” appeared in The Zen of Midlife Mothering.

Non-Traditional Holiday Traditions

by Jo-Ann Rogan

I was raised Catholic. My husband, some sort of Protestant. But, he refused to go to church after someone gave him a hard time about having nothing for the collection plate.

Together, our little family is very atheist. We celebrate the secular Santa and Rudolf Christmas. Presents, gatherings, and needed time together as a family. Celebrations with no religious overtones, but which include a ton of togetherness.

This has left us with some non-traditional traditions. “Hookey Day” is our favorite. We have been doing this since our sons were young. We pick a day in the middle of the week, right after Thanksgiving. We pick a weekday because my oldest son has sensory issues and navigating crowds is hard for him. I let the boys stay out of school. […]

Merry Christmas – The View From Scott’s Corner!

Mothering contributor DeAnna Scott, 48, is the mother of twins, Robert and Phoebe (born via a traditional surrogacy in June 2013). DeAnna is a p/t photographer and full-time mom. Her work is featured on a monthly basis. Copyright Scott Photography.

Living Christmas in the Present

by Nicholas D'Ambra

As a child, I never understood why adults were so stressed out about the holidays, and especially, Christmas. After all, it is a time of giving, joy, fun, food, presents and all-round merriment. Isn’t is?

I remember times when we didn’t see a family member or two, most likely, because of one misunderstanding or another. My own parents were frantically shopping, wrapping and having conversations about “don’t forget so and so, did you get them something?” Stressful conversations abounded about the food to be ordered and retrieved from the various shops.

Every year, without fail, my mom would say, “This is the last year I’m making these cookies!” as she tossed another pan in the trash that didn’t meet her criteria of taste and consistency. There were the occasional terse words exchanged. And, sometimes there were tears behind closed doors… or even across the table.

I didn’t understand: How did anything else matter? It was Christmas!! […]

The Trauma of the Tree – Yesterday and Today

by Gina Broadbent

Yesterday

How could my mother do it, do it at Christmas? She hung the stockings, baked the cookies, wrapped the gifts, even placed baby Jesus in the manger. And then, she did it, smack dab in the middle of the living room! She put up a silver aluminum Christmas tree.

I hated that tree. It was not festive, fragrant or full. Worst of all, it was not green!! I was convinced Santa would take one look at it and, fearing high levels of radiation, shoot right back up the chimney. My brother, Joe, hated that tree more.

Since my father’s mechanical ability was limited to changing a burnt out light bulb, the job of assembling the tree fell to my brother. Joe was blessed with a methodical mind and a plethora of patience. On or about December 1, Joe began his work. He opened a large cardboard box and faced 642 individual branches of curled foil that fit into one, and only one, spoke on a spindly trunk. On or about December 24, Joe finished his task. […]

Presents or Presence?

by Wendy Sue Noah

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Yes, it is. And it can also be the most stressful time of the year. Yes, it can!

The holidays just amplify what already exists in our daily lives, which is primarily love with expectations and generosity with obligations. Let’s look at this paradox closely.

First of all, the holidays extend to us the presence and opportunity to spend special quality time to be with family and loved ones in a most intimate way, without the distraction of work and responsibilities. What a delight and opportunity to freely offer our loving presence!

Then, there are the other ‘presents’ or holiday gifts. This factor can be a joyful exchange or can be a stressful comparison or expectation. Joyful exchange means that we purchase (or make) something for a special person in our life. We offer it from the heart, with no expectations or demands. Sounds simple enough, but to be honest, we are not taught how to give like this. Most of our gift-giving has entanglements. Even obligations. […]

All I Want for Christmas Is…Chanukah?

by DeAnna Shaneck Scott

Where is my Jewish grandmother? That’s the problem: my grandmother wasn’t Jewish and neither am I. Neither is my husband, for that matter.

So you might ask why I am looking for a Jewish grandmother. Because my kids are Jewish – at least I think they are as they were born to our wonderful Jewish surrogate. Quite honestly I’ve not broached the subject with a Rabbi so I don’t know technically if they are. But, according to Jewish law, children born to a Jewish woman are Jewish. The technicality doesn’t matter to me really. I’ll address that some other day.

So, on the cusp of the upcoming holidays, Christmas and Chanukah, I am ruminating about what I find important in my life and the lives of my children, and why. I am thinking about the fact that I was raised in an entirely different religion. And, that this one act: the act of having my twins via a Jewish surrogate has turned our world upside down in more ways than I can count and forced me to question everything about my life. […]

The Season of the Dark

by Laura Jane Murphy

I call the months from October to January, (when the days finally start to lengthen) the “ Season of the Dark.” My rituals stem from the celebration of light in the dark. I love this special time of year, despite its commercial exploitation, for the palpable experience it provides.

Growing up in a family that was not traditionally religious, yet still connected to the foundation of spirituality, rooted me in seasonal tradition. My father grew up Jewish and my mother a Southern Baptist. Together our family created a compromise based in love.

I have somehow continued to honor ritual around the light with my own family, and am now aware that my daughter, even in her distracted teenage years, appreciates them. I saw how adamantly resistant she was when we contemplated a possible trip away from home during the Holidays. Her excitement during this time has spurred me on to establish new holiday rituals ones that my own New England family would never have embraced.

It wasn’t until I moved to the Midwest that I joined the frenzy of decorating the exterior of the house. New Englanders rarely string orange and white lights that look like candy corn all over the front porch, as well as hang spider webs and giant bugs over the railings. […]

17 Tips About Food, Dieting, and Eating During This Holiday Season

by Irene Celcer

Christmas and New Year’s Eve may be two of the most stressful holidays for women.

The Holiday Season, a time that is supposed to be about a celebrations, may be torturous to some who have eating or body image issues. Why is this so? Because women, still, have set-notions for the proper ways to behave during a holiday.

This can be summarized with two thought-patterns engrained from childhood and passed down for generations: Cook, but do not eat too much, and look good.

Looking your best is an expectation, especially during holiday parties, but the duality of preparing food and not eating it while overseeing that all goes well, plus the stress of hosting family or visiting relatives may send many (if not every woman in the planet), straight into compulsive-eating mode. […]

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