admin, Author at Mothering in the Middle

Where Do Babies Come From? A Sweet and Honest Primer on How Reproduction Works by Illustrator Sophie Blackall

by Maria Popova

Children’s questions have way of being so simple that they spill into the philosophical. And yet one particular question kids ask stumps grown-ups more than any other, hurling us into a cesspool of self-doubt as we struggle for an answer that is neither too age-inappropriate nor so obviously fanciful that it fails to get the young inquisitor off our back: “Where do babies come from?”

Thankfully, Australian-born, Brooklyn-based illustrator extraordinaire Sophie Blackall, who has given us such treasures as her visual love stories based on Craigslist missed connections and her illustrations for Aldous Huxley’s only children’s book, addresses that dreaded question with equal parts warmth, wisdom, and wit in The Baby Tree (public library) — an elegantly age-appropriate explanation of how reproduction works that neither talks down to children’s inherent intelligence nor boggles them with overly clinical dry science. […]

The Mother of All Mothers

by Beverley Golden

Mother’s love is peace. It need not be acquired, it need not be deserved ~ Eric Fromm

Mother. The word brings up varied reactions I know, depending on our personal experiences with our own mothers. Like it or not, without our mothers, we wouldn’t be here.

Growing up in the 50’s and 60’s, my mother Lillian was primarily a “stay-at-ome” mother. It’s not that she didn’t have high aspirations for her future. Her dream was to be a dancer. However, times required she go to work directly after graduating high school as a bookkeeper for a dress manufacturer, her professional dancing dreams dashed. […]

Your Answers: “You Know Are a Midlife Mother When You….”

Have a baby at the age of 47 3/4!
Love singing nursery rhymes in the car even if the little person isn’t there to join in.
Can’t believe how blessed and fortunate you are to have a child even when you’re changing the most explosive nappy, or struggling to stay awake the day after a sleepless night.
Are happy to be in on a Friday evening folding small clothes when everyone else is out on the town. Ellie Stoneley

When you find yourself at the chiropractor’s office as often as the elementary school.
When your young child points out your increasing gray hair, daily.
When your over 50 multi vitamin bottle sits atop the Flinstone’s chewables. Maureen O’Neill Davis

Don’t flinch when a school friend asks your child if you are the grandmother. You just smile! Karen Du Toit

You are not interested in adding new people into life’s highly valued and precious time, like when you were younger. Midlife brings a sense of knowing who you are, what you want and who you chose to spend precious time with or to have in your children’s circle of friends. Monique Faison Ross

When you are changing your son’s diaper and having a hot flash at the same time. DeAnna Scott

You know you are a midlife mother when your roots are growing out, not because you can’t afford to color, or even because you are too busy, but because you just don’t care anymore! Joely Johnson Mork

If your parents are old enough to be in diapers and your kids are young enough to be in diapers.
If you are old enough to be the parents of some of the parent’s in your child’s classrooom.
If […]

Mother’s Day Q&A with Faydra Koenig – America’s Divorce Coach

Q- Faydra, this year Mother’s Day falls on my weekend with the children. I know it sounds selfish, but I don’t want to give up my time with the kids. Is it wrong for me to expect her to let them be with me this weekend? -James, Iowa

A– James, you present a question that comes up a lot with divorced couples. When families are already divided by time and location, it is difficult to want to deviate from the custody plan. Typically, families are in agreement that Mother’s day and Father’s day are spent with the respective parent. I would ask that you put your motives in check and if you aren’t just trying to hurt your ex by default, see if there is a mutual compromise. Perhaps the children can come and go home early for Mother’s day on Sunday. Perhaps your ex isn’t as affected as you might think, and is comfortable celebrating on an alternate day. Communication is key and remember what you sow you shall reap next month on Father’s day. When in doubt, let kindness rein. […]

Stand and Be Recognized

by Jane Samuel

It’s that time of year again. Time to recognize our mothers. To make them breakfast in bed, buy them expensive cards, mold clay into indiscernible lumpish presents at preschool, take them to tea or brunch or dinner, to kiss them, hug them, honor them.

But in my Momma heart it is time to fully consider them. To not only parade around and polish the shiny head’s side of the motherhood coin, but to turn it and look at its tail side too. To ask, and answer, something that perhaps we don’t consider enough – when is a woman a mother? […]

Mums, Moms and Mothering

by Ellie Stoneley

I’ve fallen foul of it several times. My brother, who lives in the Far East, gets it wrong every year. The confusion has resulted in quite the most incredible mother in the entire universe wondering what she’s done to deserve being forgotten on a day she should be the centre of attention. I’m talking about my mother, and about Mothering Sunday. Or is that Mothers Day, or perhaps Mother’s Day?

In the UK, we celebrate our Mums on a different day than when the US celebrates Moms. Back in Blighty, Mothering Sunday falls on the fourth Sunday in Lent, while in America (and most of the world), Mother’s Day is always on the second Sunday in May. Just to add to the muddle, in other countries, mothers are celebrated on special days throughout the year – from January in Myanmar to December in Panama and Indonesia.

Our current tradition of celebrating and thanking our mothers is consistent with the States, but the roots of the celebration are different again and in a fascinating and thought- provoking way. […]

My Problem With Mother’s Day

by Marc Parsont

My problem with Mother’s Day is more or less the fact that your mother should know how you feel about her without having a day dedicated to reminding her of how rotten you are as a son or daughter during the rest of the year.

On the bright side, Mother’s Day is a neat way to show that you aren’t that bad a child.

My mother is turning 80 years old next year and I think that’s pretty good for someone who has had such a rich, full life filled with both pain and joy. She survived the Nazi invasion of France, fell in love and married my father and then took care of him for 26 years after he suffered a near-fatal heart attack at age 49. She has two sons and a raft of grandchildren who love her dearly. […]

Offering a Mother’s Day – To Others

by DeAnna Scott

This Mother’s Day will be the first one I can celebrate as a mother of humans. I spent many years celebrating Mother’s Day as a mom of furry four-legged critters, but of course it wasn’t the same. In actuality, it hid the emptiness I had – an emptiness brought on by years of infertility and loss.

Women who are currently in the throes of, or those that have been through infertility, most assuredly can relate to these feelings. It is because of this emptiness that on this first Mother’s Day and all that shall follow, I shall celebrate it feeling grateful – I don’t want it to be a celebration in honor of me as a mother since it is I who has the honor to have been blessed with my two baby humans.

Yet, I can’t help but contemplate the emptiness of the remaining members of the moms-in-waiting alliance. It’s a club no woman wants to be a part of; you don’t volunteer for it and you certainly don’t search it out. But you pay your dues – you have no choice in the matter. As a matter of fact, you pay years of dues reluctantly learning that often this quest for motherhood is a journey, not a sprint. At least for us in the club. […]

Having Faith as a Mother

by Heather Griffiths

Lately, I’ve found myself internally struggling with the same two questions: “Is motherhood all that I dreamed it would be?” Yes, and then some! “Did I ever imagine, in a million years, I would feel as blessed and as challenged as I do now?”– No, never!

This year, I have experienced more challenges as a mother than I ever have in the past. For example, in the past three days I’ve gone from the exhilaratingly proud moments where my son sings out his praise to God unabashed and passionately on the school’s stage to frustration and defeat when he is in the throes of a temper tantrum of epic proportions. […]

The Joy of Being a Mother

Courtesy Scott Photography

About admin