by Rosemary Lichtman Ph.D. and Phyllis Goldberg Ph.D.
Long before it was a song, the saying was a part of our conversation: Love makes the world go ’round.
With all this whirling, love can make you feel off balance and dizzy. Sometimes it’s tricky to keep your personal world turning without having it spin totally out of control. Although our focus is most often on romantic love, there are many different kinds of love that help keep us grounded. […]
by Marc Parsont
I’d like to offer apologies in advance to those of you who love Valentine’s Day and find my thoughts saccharine-religious. I don’t always spend my time thinking of things like this. Oh, no, it sometimes gets worse.
I wonder how old Cupid is and why he’s still wearing a Toga? Is he a party animal? Does he get drunk and stupid like we did when we were young and throw up on the floor? Who cleans it up? Do mother or father clean up after their little Cupid? (Midlife parents would do anything for their children, overlook any problem, for even terribly misbehaved ones like Cupid.) […]
by Ann Sheybani
image courtesy of flickr.com
I love, love, love Gala Darling. Her site is all about radical self-love. My favorite among her posts: 100 Ways You Can Start Loving Yourself Right Now. In it she says:
“Make lists of reasons why you love yourself… & write down (or keep mental lists) of the compliments other people give you. We’re so quick to believe people when they say nasty, unkind or “brutally honest” (ahem, cruel) things to or about us, & we discard all the times we’re told how amazing, beautiful or intelligent we are. Usually this is because our sense of self-doubt is stronger than our self-love. If you can build up the love side of things, this will begin to change.” […]
by Cyma Shapiro
Dear Reader: Heart Stones is my most favorite Valentine’s Day book, ever. I own and have given several of Josie’s books for presents. MitM is honored to feature her, for Valentine’s Day.
Q: Josie, your first book is called Loving Blind/Seeing Red: A Mother’s Decade. It features a series of images with connecting anecdotes about life with small kids which was inspired by your earliest path through motherhood. As the mother of three children, now ranging in age from 15 to 20, they appear to be your driving force, motivation and inspiration. Please tell me more about your journey with them and how it has contributed to your finding your life’s work.
I had my first baby (20 years ago nearly today in fact!) at midwinter break in the second of three years of an MFA program and when done, I thought I would be teaching pretty consistently. But teaching in the arts is initially a transient thing…The reality was that the best economic model for our family was for me to be home with the kids…and it was a gift to us as a family and to me as an artist. My studio is just downstairs (through the backyard) from the kitchen and my work and life are intertwined, physically as well as psychically. My kids and my husband always inspire me to do better work. […]
by Maggie Lamond Simone
Gather ’round, kids. Our very favorite holiday, Valentine’s Day, is fast approaching. It’s the one day we are allowed to blatantly display our love for each other, and every year Auntie Maggie takes particular delight in sharing the special story of this most romantic time. Yes, Auntie Maggie has an issue or two. […]
by Ramona Duoba
Image courtesy of wmphoenixopen.com
If turning 50 wasn’t bad enough I have a daughter who has taken a keen interest in my age. It’s probably because she doesn’t know how old I really am.
Being obsessed with aging or anti-aging is a way of life for many women, but has the obsession gone too far when you can’t be truthful with your own daughter? I suppose many people would say I’m setting her up, or that my inability to tell the truth about my age is an example of self-loathing or some deep-rooted trauma that I haven’t come to terms with. It’s not. I just don’t like aging. It’s that simple. There’s nothing wonderful about looking at a passport photo from 10 years ago and comparing it to the one I have today. There’s a harsh difference. […]
by Marc Parsont
Please welcome our first regular “Mr. Mom,” stay-at-home-midlife-father-contributor. His perspective will be most welcome!
Dear Reader: It’s 5:30 a.m. and my son wet his bed. Since I was up, I set a camera to record my daughter sleeping to see if she has apnea and following this lead in will try and learn Quick Books in time for our taxes, all the while hoping, no praying that the dog won’t bark and that I’ll remember to turn off my alarm before waking, you guessed it—my wife.
As a “Mr. Mom,” I thought that writing on a midlife mothers site would be daunting. Women writers, and midlife mothers, in general, have me at a general disadvantage. My experiences, while similar, can only skim the surface. Since I’ve been asked to present my perspective, I’d like to start with this post. […]
by Andrea Lynn
We are decorating the house for the birthday party. With my two girls, I’ve done seven parties, and the formula is nearly the same every time. Balloons, blown up by me and tied and taped to the ceiling in bunches, no matter what house we’ve been in. Streamers from corner to corner. Then comes the cake. A different one every year. A butterfly banana cake for Claire’s first birthday, a safari diorama for her second, a pink strawberry for her third, a round (!) chocolate cake with pink roses for her fourth. […]
Liz Raptis Picco
I’m soon to be 60, raising teenage brothers who my husband and I adopted from Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua almost fifteen years ago. Being a Latina and native speaker definitely helped when we approached an orphanage in northern Mexico. Being a Latina also made it difficult for me to talk about it openly among my family.
I’ve noticed the same reluctance in Latinas to discuss infertility and IVF, as well as adoption. I follow many wonderful blogs where important issues concerning Latinas are showcased, but I have not yet found one that discusses infertility.
Why? […]
by Beverley Golden
Maximina and her Mom
It is truly extraordinary to experience a monumental anniversary celebration in life. Just over ten years ago, I naively flew off across the ocean to an alternative clinic in Germany looking for answers, hope and healing, for my undiagnosable medical condition. Weighing in at 89 pounds on a 5 foot 6 inch frame, I was a walking skeleton and apparently looked like the only thing I was about to cross, was death’s door. My daughter had even given me permission to die. That truly shocked me. […]