by Serena Kirby
Undoubtedly the most noticeable drawback for the young ‘only’ child is the absence of a sibling playmate. This often leads to heightened demands for parents to be the child’s primary playmate. As fatigue can be a major factor for older mothers of a young ‘only’ child, life can be a whole lot more tiring if your only child’s world revolves totally around You. […]
DeAnna Scott
The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we decided to decorate our Christmas tree. It was the earliest we had ever done that. But we had the twins this year, and I wanted to leap into the holiday season with gusto. For now on, it was my intent to build up the anticipation of Christmas morning – to give my children as many days as possible to marvel at the season.
Although they are only six months old, it’s never too early to start traditions! […]
by Marc Parsont
The way I see it, the holiday season should be spent practicing the rotten things we do to each other and our children. Then we can spend the other 11 months being kind and gentle and loving.
For example:
All the whining and begging for gifts. Can I have this please? Can I have that please? Is that all I get? Is that all I can have? I want more! I want that! And that’s just me!
Let’s fight for parking spaces and curse each other out loudly in front of our children. Let’s trample people down hunting for a $200 toy that our children break in 20 minutes or forget about in one day. Who hasn’t heard that wail and lament, “I don’t have anything to do.” […]
by Janice Eidus
The first time my husband and I (both middle aged) gazed at the photograph we’d been sent of the black haired, ten-day-old baby girl who we were in the process of adopting from Guatemala, we instantly fell head over heels in love with her. And we knew we wanted to raise her to be Jewish, something neither of us had predicted.
I’d grown up with atheist, left-wing parents, lifelong, fiery champions of the oppressed, via civil rights and union activism. They considered themselves Jewish – and were sensitive to anti-Semitism — but didn’t celebrate or observe any Jewish customs or traditions. When asked directly about their Jewish identities, they declared themselves, “Atheists first, Jews second.” […]
by Lisa Froman
Note: I found this letter in an old folder. It’s a letter I wrote to my son, Alex, 11 years ago when he was preparing for his high school graduation… and a new life away from home. Me? I was preparing for an empty nest and a new life at home, without my only child. It still resonates as truth for me, all these years later. I’m sharing this letter with all of the moms (and dads) who are preparing to see their children go off to college or move away. I remember it like it was yesterday.
Dear Son,
Your dad and I love you far, far more than what we could ever put into words in any letter. But if we could…if I could, I would say…
I see my window of influence is closing and it will soon be time for you to stand strong and make your own footprints in this world. It seems like we’ve been preparing for this day since you first learned to walk. I remember the day when you took your first steps–one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve–baby steps, and then you fell into my arms. […]
by Dr. Zhi Gang Sha
As a mother, you’re an expert at nursing your kids and family members back to health when they’re down with winter cold symptoms. But you also have the power to heal yourself. All of us have within us the potential to be great healers. Many of us don’t realize this. When we’re sick, we sometimes feel helpless and victimized. What’s surprising is that it’s not difficult to heal oneself. It takes practice and persistence, but the effects of self-healing are often immediate and profound.
I will share a simple four-step self-healing technique you can try on a very common ailment this time of year: the common cold with fever. There are lots of other techniques I teach to heal oneself that include using lifestyle modifications, calligraphy, chanting, singing, visualizing, meditating, and using specific body positions. But anyone can learn the following techniques, and they’re easy to do. […]
by Shana Sureck
Everyone was having children. Except me. Co-workers. Friends. The teenagers I taught in an afterschool program. The moms at the mall who yanked at their children’s arms and made them cry with curses and slaps.
I received birth announcements. Baby shower invites. I wanted to celebrate and feel joy for my friends, but each new announcement brought a yearning for what I couldn’t have. […]
by Cindy Bailey
Sticking with your fertility diet and routine over the long run can be challenging under any circumstances, but it’s especially taxing during the holidays. Gatherings of friends and family, especially if they include children, can bring up emotional stress and pain. And then there’s all the holiday food and sweets—at the office, at home, at parties, at dinner events. How do we resist the temptation to munch on food that doesn’t nourish us, and stay on the path of bringing our baby home? […]
by Andrea Lynn
My friend’s mother just had a heart attack. A small one, and she’s recovering well. But besides the shock and concern my friend has for her mother, she’s lost her mother’s help with her two children, and her life has quickly become that much harder.
Like me, my friend is a Single Mother by Choice, having arrived late to motherhood without a partner. She had two children using an anonymous donor, and her parents have been supportive in both emotional and practical ways. Until the heart attack, her mother drove her children to many after school and weekend activities, enjoying the time with her grandchildren and helping close that gap all working parents feel between the end of the school day and the end of the work day two hours later. […]
by Liz Raptis Picco
Courtesy Liz Picco
We realized our decade long dream when we brought our toddler sons home from Ciudad Juárez, Mexico fifteen years ago. Amidst the stupefying demands of parenthood, we didn’t hesitate to fast forward to the first day of kindergarten right through high school graduation.
My eyes would go moist at the thought of our pint-sized boys heading out for elementary school and was moonstruck with pride as I envisioned strapping young men flipping their tassels, diplomas in hand. […]
