by Andrea Lynn
I always feel like my mother when I clean the oven. I did it last night in recognition that our days of barbecuing will be curtailed soon enough, and an oven-warmed house will soon be a lovely thing. Oven cleaning has come a long way, with the push of a button, but there is still the messy bit at the end that involves rubber gloves, and that is when I feel like my mother — in the best possible way. Productive. […]
by Heather Griffiths
At the age of 30 I had my son; my daughter at 32. YES, Yes… I know – I’m a baby by most of your standards at the not so “tender” age of 35, and not officially a midlife mother. You see, by my family’s track record, my two older sisters were working on kids # 2 and 3 respectively by the time they were 25, so for me I thought waiting until I was 30 was waiting. Looking back now I see that I naively thought I had everything together. But, I am still racked with self doubt and the simple question of “What if” and the not so simple answers it often conjures. […]
by Valerie Gillies
Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach the far horizon? Hal Borland
Here I am, sitting at the computer trying to write something coherent, while inches away my thirteen year old is melting down at the prospect of the first day of school tomorrow. The ostensible issues: backpack size and choice of clothing for the morning. (Truth: nervous beyond belief.) Another, down the hall, is supposed to be packing for a year abroad, but has abandoned a room that could land me with a health code violation, in order to help her friend pack up for school. And, in the room vacated by my eldest daughter are the beginnings of a wedding gown that I should be working on. […]
by Patricia Gottlieb Shapiro
The first time I did yoga, I was 49 years old – not a midlife mother, but clearly mid-life. I walked into a small studio bathed in white. Something about the atmosphere made me feel relaxed and calm—even before I did any postures. It was a difficult time in my life. I needed peace and a respite from a set of family problems. I walked in feeling uptight and edgy; I walked out after class in another place. I knew the problems were still there but they felt more distant and I was less emotional about them. […]
by Jane Samuel
As my children can attest, I am not much of a TV person. I think it siphons away needed brain cells and deprives our lives of valuable time. Nonetheless, when tethered to the elliptical for my workouts I am known to watch a little and one show that I often surf to is TLC’s A Baby Story. I find myself nervously pacing (well, sort of ellipticaling) beside the anxious dads, beaming eagerly with the expectant grandparents or panting and pushing along with the moms. […]
by Karen Hug-Nagy
I think my current mindset has all the markings of a midlife mothering crisis. It’s difficult to describe just what a midlife crisis feels like. Lately I’ve heard it termed a midlife transition, which sounds less frightening to me. I think I’m currently stuck in one of those transitions. My 10 year old twins are in fifth grade, so that means I gave birth to them at age 45, and if I do the math right, that would put me at about age, 55! […]
by Vivian Diller, Ph.D
by Andrea Lynn
I’ve done it. I’ve put the baby gear up for sale. The Bjorn. The exersaucer. The infant carseat and the bumbo chair. Taken photos, written reassuringly about a pet-free and smoke-free home, and hit “post ad.” The pile of gear, cleaned up for the photo op, now sits in the middle of the dining room awaiting eager buyers, ignored by the 3 year old and used only as a hand-hold by the baby, who toddles by haltingly on the way to her next task, oblivious to the detritus of her infancy. […]
by Julie Donner Andersen
There exists in my neighborhood a gaggle of women who, on the outside, appear as normal as you and I. They lovingly raise children, cook dinners, and support their husbands. They tend to perfectly manicured lawns and rose-covered gardens while wearing strings of pearls and aprons. […]
