by Jane Samuel
Method Happy Holiday by Method
Most kids have loveys. Tired-looking things that they have loved into threadbare parcels of comfort. Perhaps a beloved blanket – a gift from some ancient aunt the child doesn’t even know but who thought enough to gift the one thing every child needs. Perhaps a bear, or bunny, or boppi – whatever that is. Perhaps even a woman’s slip (as was the case with my cousin’s youngest). […]
by Peg O'Neill, M.D.
“Mom, that kid just called Joey a nigger!” Jimmy, my fair-haired eleven year-old, his face flushed with anger, stood before me on the elementary school playground, trying to process the insult that had just been hurled at his darker-skinned younger brother. “I was going to fight him, but I decided to come and tell you.” […]
by Ellie Stoneley
Mother, Me & Hope
“Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter” – Mark Twain
I’ve been asked so many times what it feels like to be an ‘older Mother.’ It always strikes me as a silly question, really, it’s not as if I knew what it was like to be a younger mother. I am what I am, we are where we are and I am 48 1/2 with a 12 month old daughter… I am happy, blissfully happy, if a little tired most of the time. […]
by Douglas C.
You might think it unusual that I read parenting magazines; that I know women by their children’s names; and that most women who speak with me are grandmothers – around my own age! However, what you don’t know is that at age 52, I’m actually the mom (The Baby-Daddy) of the household – not what I expected to be at my age, but one that clearly enhances and supports my family unit. […]
by Valerie Gillies
“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf” – Jon Kabat-Zin
In the last few weeks, the why question has come up every day. It really is a foolish question. Honestly, outside of a scientific topic there is rarely a good answer for “Why?” If I could say why a vibrant, kind, friend succumbed to multiple myeloma last week, don’t I also need to know why the shell of a nasty ancient relative remains alive in a nursing home? This is complicated, and our hearts yearn for simple answers that we can wrap in tidy packages, secure with twine, and pack away, so that we can go on with our daily tasks without interruption. […]
by Ann Sheybani
When did we women decide that everyone else should come first? Who proclaimed it our job to guarantee the pleasure of others and settle for whatever crumbs fell off their plates?
I like to call this the Chicken Back Syndrome. Preparing a chicken dinner, encouraging our husbands and children to take the best pieces—the breast, thighs and legs—and insisting that we actually like the chicken back best. And somehow, without question, everyone believes we’re just loopy enough to crave bone and gristle. After awhile, we even convince ourselves that those tiny scraps of meat buried between the ribs are worth the effort. […]
by Jane Samuel
Done: This mother of babies has retired.
The email surprised me. Apparently the Chinese orphan we had sponsored for the last five years had been adopted. Not three days earlier I had finally shipped off a package of specially selected Christmas presents: a doll, a few Chinese picture books, a cheongsam (Chinese dress), and some craft items. […]
by Jenilyn Gilbert
Are you feeling exhausted, grumpy or spacey lately? Do you lack energy? As midlife mothers and mothers to be, our energy levels can sometimes be compromised. As our hormones shift so does our energy. Some of us need to slow down and others need to speed things up. Perhaps you need more hours of sleep, or you may find yourself feeling tired around 3 or 4 PM (in the afternoon) or maybe you don’t have the same overall zest you used to have. […]
by Rosemary Lichtman Ph.D. and Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D.
By now you’ve likely made your New Year’s resolutions or aligned your energy with your deepest intentions. Want to know the best way to stay on track? Keep a journal. This process can help you create a personal plan and develop the tools to actualize it. […]
by Casey Kochmer
The term Midlife Crisis brings up many images. In America, it brings up deriding images of a person buying a red sports car, daydreams of flings, broken marriages and people acting as a child again.
In reality, a Midlife Crisis represents a deeper possibility for a person to become their dreams. However, those dreams are hard to realize within an un-supportive society and without clear personal understanding of the actual experience. People often end up hurting themselves in the process of trying to change. A person’s life carries a lot of momentum from the past that tumbles them about heedlessly upon trying to change to be something new. […]