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A Mother’s Musings – North Star

by Judith Lee Herbert

                                                            Polaris- The North Star- Alpha Ursa Minor

Cobalt blue enamel sky,

diamond studded crescent moon adorn

the gold locket of my charm bracelet.

Gift from my parents when I was young,

it holds the image of my mother

as she journeys to a place

without words or memory.

               

Dana, my one and only Baby Buddha,

told me when she was three,

“Someday, I won’t need you anymore.”

She is eighteen; it is her time

to explore the brightness of the stars

and the vastness of the universe.

 

As constellations move in the night sky,

My position is shifting.

I navigate my way in space,

holding on to the sacredness of love,

my own internal North Star.

Judith Lee Herbert has returned to poetry after a successful career in another field.  She graduated Cum Laude in English Literature from Columbia University.  She has a daughter who is a sophomore in college, and she lives in New York City, with her husband, who writes plays.  She had her daughter when she was in her 40s.

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Older Parenting

by Marc Parsont

eldermanBecoming an older parent, while gratifying, is downright scary.  We married when I turned 45 years old, and she was not.  Like any G-d fearing, country-loving man, I married a younger woman – an intelligent, loving woman who wanted children, with me no less.

We were fortunate.  While having children wasn’t easy, it wasn’t impossible.  We faced difficulties, tragedies that tested our love, and had two lovely children thirteen months apart.

I do not write of our success to make you feel jealous, unhappy or sad or awful.  I am writing to tell you of the fear I have right now about being an older parent, while writing to you from the emergency room of our local hospital. […]

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Maiden, Mother, Not Quite Crone

by Nancy LaMar Rodgers

Maiden, Mother… Whoa-Not Quite Crone

Maiden, mother, cronePlanning to have a baby at 42 was, well, not in the plan.  It happened.  I thought I was in perimenopause, but alas, not so much.  My daughter was nine at the time and though we had tried while she was younger, it hadn’t happened and so we were a happy family of three.  I know for a fact that my son was supposed to come to me at age 42 even though I was not only unprepared, but more importantly, scared out of my wits.

Divine, Parental Intervention

I was 40 years old when we took my dad to live with us. We put an addition on the house.  I should have known it would turn into a metaphor.  Pops was great, but forgetful.  As an only child himself and then a father of eight, he had his own ideas about family.

“You know I was thinking kid, you might want to have another, being an only child is tough.”

And with that, my guilt would swell and I would clean the house. […]

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6 Things you might be doing that hurt adoptive families

by John M. Simmons

Amy and I have always worked hard with our adopted children (oops, even I get it wrong sometimes) “children who were adopted” in an effort to help them avoid feeling offended. We are not sticklers for political correctness. We try to prepare our children for questions or comments that they might encounter and have them ready to understand what people mean, or what their real question is, rather than getting their feelings hurt.

Even so, there are times when people with the best intentions say and do things that make it difficult for our children. Knowing that such friends only want to help, I decided to share these points that will assist well intentioned friends and acquaintances in helping adoptive families like ours. […]

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Motherhood Is The Ultimate Blessing

by Patti Rice

It’s Monday night and the house is quiet.

Well, I take that back – it’s quiet except for Hayden, who is squirming and complaining on my lap. He’s been in a grouchy mood all day, and I think I’ve nursed him 49 times. Possibly less, but it doesn’t feel like it. Lily is chattering in the background too – covering her doll with a maroon plastic pasta strainer and singing “wash, wash, wash.” (Give that girl an A+ for creativity, because I promise she isn’t reenacting anything she’s seen here before.)

But. it’s more quiet here than usual, because the rest of my kids are dispersed throughout our town tonight….some are playing football in a park with their older brother, a few are off on an ice cream date with Daddy, and Mackenzie is staying the night with a friend from work whose husband is out of town. […]

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Is my Teen ‘Just Dieting’ or Developing an Eating Disorder? (September is Childhood Obesity Month)

by Irene Celcer

Dear Reader: This is Part I of a four-part series identifying the warning signs for food-related problems and focusing on childhood obesity.

Julie just turned 15. This is the third night that she chimes in about her meat, “Mom, this is disgusting …and cruel too!“ She also declares,  “I am a vegetarian.”

You are not sure what to think.

You recall that eating disorders start by teens not eating meat.

On the fifth night that Julie eats only salad you are officially worried. […]

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Our First Back-to-School and Other Catastrophes

by Nicholas D'Ambra

Preschool was difficult enough.  But, at least it was owned by my best friend. And, I already knew a lot of the staff before our little two-year-old son entered the gates.

For the first two weeks, I stayed at school (my husband was with me the first week) and watched.  For two and a half hours, twice a week, I hid behind some wire fencing about fifteen feet away and watched.  And cried. And watched.  I was getting used to our routine when my dear friend who owns the school came up to me and said, “There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”  Turns out it was a therapist.  […]

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The Highs and Lows of Contemplating Midlife Pregnancy

by Michal Klau-Stevens

It’s time. You feel ready for this. You feel secure in your career, your financial situation, your relationships, and your place in life, and now you are ready to get pregnant and start your family. If you are a woman over the age of 35 and feel like you are in the prime of your life, you may be surprised to find that the maternity medical establishment may not view you in the same light. […]

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