Mothers Over 50 Archives - Page 10 of 26

Bringing on the New Year with Vision

by Wendy Sue Noah

It’s a new year! Hip hip hooray! Doesn’t 2014 sound magical?!

I’m really into new starts of all sorts ~ an opportunity for rebirth, change and new beginnings. This includes my love for Monday’s, which seems unusual to the mainstream world. However, Monday is the start of a brand new fresh spanking week, for fresh perspectives and new opportunities. Imagine if we chose to embrace Mondays instead of hate them. Our lives would change considerably with that one conscious choice! […]

Tips for Raising An Only Child (Part II)

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. […]

Mom, Our Twins and Christmas

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! […]

Becoming Jewish

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.” […]

Through the Eyes of A Midlife Mother

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. […]

Doing a Little Less, Imperfectly, At Midlife

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. […]

Cada Cabeza Es Un Mundo—To Each His Own

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. […]

Music To My Ears

by Tina Traster

There we were, on our winter break vacation, driving to our hotel after a day of skiing in the Canadian Laurentians.

“I miss my violin,” Julia sighed, dreamily gazing out at the frozen tundra, not really talking to either my husband nor I. Just thinking out loud.

“Really?” I said, whipping my head around to the back seat.

“Yeah, I should have brought it with me,” she lamented. “I miss it.”

[…]

Giving Birth to Life and Death

by Amy Wright Glenn

My 18-month-old son blissfully naps and I decide to catch up on some emails. I look at my inbox and notice a request for advice. I open the email, curious. After reading the first sentence, I take a deep breath.

“I experienced my first stillborn birth as a doula. I am so confused.”

The new doula in question had witnessed one of life’s most painful experiences– the birth of a lifeless infant. […]

Second Chance

by Janice Eidus

Twelve years ago, in middle age, you and your husband begin the process of adopting a child from Guatemala. You’re assured by your lawyers that the adoption will go quickly, and that within a few months, you’ll be a mother. Still, you’re intimidated by the seemingly endless mounds of paperwork, and by how you must be fingerprinted and meet numerous times with social workers and lawyers. You assure yourself that it’s all worth it to become the mother of a child who needs you, and whom you need. […]