My Top 13 Mommy Confessions
by Karen Osburn
I’m not typically a Mommy who worries. Really.
But I have my moments. I have my doubts, fears, and insecurities like many Moms do.
Or do they?
Maybe it is just me? […]
Excerpts from Ch. 6 of the Book, The Wilderness of Motherhood
by Lora Freeman Williams
Dear Reader: We are so pleased to present an excerpt from MotheringintheMiddle.com contributor Lora Freeman Williams’ newly published book:
When Isaac is five weeks old, my mother dies. She has just turned 65.
My home phone rings while I’m taking a nap with the baby. It awakens me, and I decide to let it ring. When my cell begins to ring next, I realize that it is the hospital trying my second number. The nurse tells me Mom’s oxygen levels are dropping, the end near.
I cry hard for a few minutes. I’m thinking I can’t do this alone. I need help. So I call a friend, and Karen picks us up a short time later.
When we arrive, I see my mother is gasping for breath, and I feel like the little girl I once was, in big trouble. It’s like times she wanted me to fix things that were far beyond my ability to fix. The nurse tells this is what the body does as “part of the process.” She also tells me that Mom can still hear.
I go into her room, holding Isaac. […]
“Working” Woman (Me)
by Jane Samuel
A few weeks ago I stood waiting on my coffee at the counter of my neighborhood Starbucks. Making small talk, the young male barista smiled and asked, “You headed to work?”
My mind went into overdrive. […]
Motherhood Is The Ultimate Blessing
by Patti Rice
It’s Monday night and the house is quiet.
Well, I take that back – it’s quiet except for Hayden, who is squirming and complaining on my lap. He’s been in a grouchy mood all day, and I think I’ve nursed him 49 times. Possibly less, but it doesn’t feel like it. Lily is chattering in the background too – covering her doll with a maroon plastic pasta strainer and singing “wash, wash, wash.” (Give that girl an A+ for creativity, because I promise she isn’t reenacting anything she’s seen here before.)
But. it’s more quiet here than usual, because the rest of my kids are dispersed throughout our town tonight….some are playing football in a park with their older brother, a few are off on an ice cream date with Daddy, and Mackenzie is staying the night with a friend from work whose husband is out of town. […]
Motherhood: Lies, Secrets and a Culture of Shame (A Mother’s Day Promise)
by Cyma Shapiro
I believe that we, as women, live in a culture of shame, failure and inferiority regarding our attempts to reach, and our paths to achieve, motherhood.
There, I’ve said it.
I believe that our gender – known for compassion, nurturing and strength – has created a hierarchy of sorts rating the exact method, age, and end result of securing motherhood. Note the whispers about actress Kate Winslet, who was purported to have lied about utilizing natural childbirth when she had a C-section. Or, Halle Berry, who has until-now failed to show the “bump,” and is the focus of stories indicating that she may be using a surrogate. To me, none of this is anyone’s business – and certainly not ours. […]
Mom On Demand
by Lori Pelikan Strobel
I am standing at my new desk, a desk that can be raised to a standing height or lowered to a sitting height. I love it! The room that this desk stands in is my office. It has been in a bit of transformation lately; just like my life. The walls are painted the softest of green. A small but dazzling crystal chandelier light hangs from the center of the room. It is pleasant here alone with my own thoughts.
Suddenly I hear the garage door open and footsteps. “Mom, I’m home!” yells my daughter from the kitchen as she loudly drops her book bag, coat and whatnot that I envision in a trail on the floor. My peacefulness is broken by her voice and I am suddenly transported back ten years ago when she would come home from school with the same declaration. Although times have changed, things have a way of staying the same. I am still here whether or not she is. […]
Be Yourself
by Rachel Snyder
The journey of mothering is like no other
and it’s all too easy to get lost in it.
Right now, set a conscious intention
to carry every bit of who you are into your role as a mother.
Promise yourself that you will embrace your shortcomings and your missteps
and will never beat yourself up for doing the very best you can.
Once you settle into being your authentic self,
you cannot help but become a one-of-a-kind, original, remarkable mom.
Don’t compare yourself with any other mother you know,
including your own.
Your genuine mothering path will have a feel and flavor and tone
that are yours and yours alone
and it just may open you up in new and unexpected ways.
You may be happy and sad – all in the same day.
You may find yourself more creative, more expressive, more loving.
Other times you might feel angry and sometimes, yes,
you may very well be afraid.
Take these opportunities to know yourself more deeply.
Consider what feels right for you
as well as for your child.
To revel in being a mother,
you must first celebrate the unique and beautiful individual
that you are and always have been.
Just Being A Mother
by Cyma Shapiro
Dear Reader: This is another reprint of a previously posted essay. Nearly every year I read or rerun it, simply to get perspective on my life. During this month of Mother’s Day, I hope it provides something for you, too!
When I began my first midlife mother’s project – the art gallery show NURTURE: Stories of New Midlife Mothers – and then began writing about related topics, I was grappling with my truths: about coming into motherhood at a much later age; about my impending middle age; about the “Change of Life” and all that it brings; and about reinventing oneself and all that it means, especially once I’d gone past the century mark (sssshhhhh). […]
Healing (A Mother’s Journey)
by Rachel Snyder
A mother’s journey is to heal. From the moment you begin to contemplate life with children, you will come face to face with your thorniest unresolved issues. You will uncover ancient hurts around your own childhood and the mothering that was given you (or not). Embrace this singular opportunity for healing. Remain open to a flood of emotions and flow with them until you find a healing peace. Give yourself room to heal and know that you heal for those who came before you and those who now follow. Create new endings to old, tired stories of loss and betrayal. Inspire your children with new legacies and new, life-affirming ways. Take bold steps to change painful patterns passed down through generations. Seek out the medicine that strengthens you and take authority for your own healing. Every mother who heals herself, heals her children, too.
Doctor Mom: A Tribute to My Mom
by Peg O'Neill
My mother is a retired nurse. Thus, when my siblings and I were growing up, the usual aches and pains of childhood got very little attention unless they were really serious, and episodes of playground trauma were met with abbreviated sympathy, the occasional band-aid, and instructions to go back and play. Because of my mother’s medical knowledge, we were unable to milk certain situations. Although we sometimes got to stay home from school for true illness, it was hard to fake being sick with my mom. Other than those episodes of ear infections and the occasional strep throat, we rarely went to the doctor except for check-ups and significant head trauma requiring stitches. […]