Commentary Archives - Page 30 of 72 - Mothering in the Middle

Love Your Womb!

by Clare Blake

When someone asks you what your favourite body part is, what do you answer?

Me, I answer, ” My Womb!”

My creativity, feminine power and inner guidance all arise from my womb and “she” gave me the greatest gift – my beautiful daughter!

So, it seems only natural that I share this passion with other women through the art of Fertility Massage. A treatment that is drawn from many indigenous cultures. A fusion of leading edge techniques including abdominal-sacral, pulsing, rebozo, reiki, guided visualisations and a twist of intuition that when blended together create this uniquely nurturing and sacred massage. […]

Moms Standing as One to Raise Happy and Healthy Kids (Celebrating Moms for Moms Day – March 4)

by Kriste Stevenson

Kriste (l) with friend (r)

Judgment comes easy. It is so easy to raise an eyebrow in another mom’s direction and question her choices, even before you become a mom yourself. I know I don’t speak for just myself–that’s just how easy it is. Whether you’re a first-time mom in your twenties or you came to be a mom during those “geriatric pregnancy” years, it is human nature to cast judgment toward moms who don’t do it the way you would.

As a mom who came late to the party after waiting several years for the “right time” to have kids, I have been on the receiving end of my fair share of judgment. Did I wait too long to become a mom? Am I too old for this gig? Was it the infertility my fault because I waited to grow up before I tried to have a baby? How could anyone put their career before starting a family? Do you look at me and wonder if it took me so long to have a baby; are children that important to me? […]

Baby, It’s Cold Outside

by Maggie Lamond Simone

This winter, I’ve decided, has been a lot like childbirth.

I don’t mean in the classic sense, obviously, because it hasn’t physically caused me to scream obscenities at complete strangers for hours on end (well, not often, anyway) and it hasn’t lasted nine months (yet), but rather in a more metaphysical sense – in the way that people seem to deal with them both.

We seem to take an awful lot of pride in our pain.

It’s almost like a competition. We compare birthing stories the same way we compare winter stories – how much weight we gained, how much snow we got, how long we were in labor, how cold it was, how long we pushed, how high the winds were, how much pain we were in, and, er, how much pain we were in. […]

The Next Stage

by Andrea Lynn

I just registered my youngest for kindergarten, and I’m almost positive that means life is getting easier. If nothing else, I’m counting on lower daycare costs, but people insist I’ll soon be spending that money on ukelele lessons, lunchboxes and gym clothes. We’ll have to see.

Having both my girls in full-time, full-day elementary school come September means I’m no longer in charge of the educational aspect of their lives. I’ve turned that all over to the school. Now, when they ask questions, I can refer them back to their teachers. I can also stop feeling guilty about not doing educational things with them, like “Sight Words Bingo” and “Zingo Math,” which we really only got around to once and afterwards just felt guilty about the neglected box sitting on our games shelf.

Now the guilt can rest; someone else can teach my girls math. My job can be reduced to food preparation, laundry, and refereeing fights over whose turn it is to choose the DVD. I have to say, I’m ready for a reduced role around here. Elementary school, I give you my children. […]

10 Things NOT to Say to Adoptive Parents

by Carly Seifert

A few days ago my 10 months pregnant friend at The Measured Mom posted a great list of things NOT to say to a pregnant woman, and politely suggest some alternatives. I laughed out loud reading some of them, remembering how many of them were said to me — and, shamefully, how many I have said to my pregnant friends, since I have forgotten what it’s like to walk around with another human being inside of you!

When I’m with my fellow adoptive girlfriends, you will often hear us say, “Oh, you won’t believe this one!” as we share the latest offensive thing someone has said to us. But just as I’ve been guilty of saying, “You look like you’re ready to pop!” to my overdue pregnant friends without meaning to make them feel worse simply because I’ve only been pregnant once and have forgotten all about it, other well-meaning people say some of the things on this list simply because they’ve never adopted and don’t know what else to say…or not say. […]

Two Degrees of Separation: How My Surrogate’s Mother Became My Newborns’ Grandmother

by DeAnna Scott

Photo courtesy of DeAnna Scott

I know a woman. She is older than me, but not by too much. She is smart (a teacher). She is entertaining, loving, and kind with a gorgeous head of purple hair. She is my children’s grandmother – the only grandmother they have related to them by blood. But she is not my mother nor is she my husband’s mother.

She is our surrogate’s mother and I don’t know if she realizes how awesome we think she is and how grateful we are that she is our children’s grandmother. […]

What is a Tantrum?

by Amy Wright Glenn

Photo courtesy of www.motherhoodwtf.com

According to the National Association of School Psychologists, a tantrum occurs when a young child, usually between the ages of 1-1/2 to 4, experiences a mixture of anger and sadness to the point where he or she looses control.

A child doesn’t consciously choose to have a tantrum. A tantrum is an overwhelming expression of feeling that is frightening for a child to experience. It’s also hard to watch as a parent.

In 2011, two researchers at the University of Minnesota collected a large amount of data on tantrums. “We have the most quantitative theory on tantrums that has ever been developed in the history of humankind,” remarked Professor Michael Potegal in a National Public Radio interview. […]

Q&A With the Jennifer Waldburger, Author of Calm Baby, Happy Mama

Q: How is this book different than all the rest?
A: Lack of calm is imparting everything in your life. You and your child are connected by energy and the more you can channel positive energy, the better your child will be.

Q: How does a mom’s energy – stress or calm – affect the baby? How does mom’s calm benefit the baby?
A: Babies are extremely perceptive little beings and are constantly responding to the energy in their environment. Over the nearly two decades we have been working with families, we’ve spoken with hundreds of hospital staff and nurses, OB-GYNs, pediatricians – and they’ll all tell you that babies with calmer parents tend to be calmer babies, and more stressed parents tend to have fussier babies who often don’t feed or sleep as well and who grow into children who have a much harder time managing the ups and downs of life. […]

The Power of One: Honoring Yourself

by Cyma Shapiro

Last year, in my Huffington Post Valentine’s Day essay, “The Power of One Helps Make a Whole,” I wrote about how important Valentine’s Day is and how I start thinking about the upcoming holiday soon after the last holiday ends! I explained how I spend several months formulating who I’ll send cards to and who I’ll call/see/meet simply to say “I love you” and express my thanks and gratitude for being in my life. […]

A Valentine For Heidi

by Marc Parsont

Unlike most sane men, I don’t fear and dread Valentine’s Day. My wife seems to be as much annoyed by the contrivance as I am.

Of course that doesn’t let me off from getting her a card. Her non-observance goes only so far. The card alone, is enough to bring back the cold sweats and reminders of my youth. Who gets a V-card? Who doesn’t get a V-card? […]