My 1-year-old stands beside the couch patting the cushion, motioning me to sit down instead of pick up old pretzel chunks from the floor. And if I sit she will heft her solid little body up next to me, crawl on top of me, and stay. (For about 10 seconds.) My 5-year-old waits. Waits. Playing with a truck. Or sitting on his bed rubbing Theo’s ear. I don’t know. But he waits. For me to turn off the shower. And before I can reach for a towel I hear, “Mama? Mom?” My 4-year-old asks if I will “suggle” with her [...]
Read More in home, Jen Writes, motherhood, three kids, unpaid workJanuary 2010
January 29, 2010
I am (finally?) the person everybody wants to be around
January 28, 2010
This is my life: Just don’t call me Lois
This video has me on-the-floor-rolling-laughing-oh-my-god-the-funny every single time.
Read More in Sarah WritesJanuary 27, 2010
This is my life: Three Wild Boys
This video really says it all but I can’t resist adding a few words–after all, I’m a word girl. On more than one occasion I’ve had people come to our house and stand in the hallway afraid to step foot in the living room. They witness boys literally bouncing off walls, off each other, the floor, the couch, the puppy. I know what they are thinking: that I have absolutely no control over my kids and I let them run rampant and how on Earth can I allow this behavior to continue. No wonder I look so tired, no wonder [...]
Read More in Sarah Writes, three kidsJanuary 26, 2010
Lip Service
As a mother with three young children who look to me and their father for guidance on everything from getting dressed to knowing when it is safe to cross the street, I think about the lessons I’m imparting. I think about the details of our days. I think about the times I yell at them and shouldn’t have. Or how I could have answered a difficult question differently. I think about how much little stuff goes into creating memorable lives for them. I want to create memories for my children. As parents, Sweetie and I have started traditions—of going to [...]
Read More in Dad, history aka before kids, home, Jen Writes, motherhood, three kidsJanuary 24, 2010
Bad Habits
Just a few months ago I was running 21 miles in 24 hours, waking at 5 am for a 60 minute swim, eating right, feeling fast and relishing an increased sex drive due to my aerobic endeavors and a wealth of endorphins. And now, mid-January finds me with cocktail in hand nearly every night, trying to milk the hours after the kids have gone to sleep. I’m awake too long; I sleep too late; I move only as much as needed; which, although is quite a lot when you have three boys running here and there, is nothing compared to [...]
Read More in exercise, health, mind/body, Sarah WritesJanuary 23, 2010
Make The Ordinary Come Alive
Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is a way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make the ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself. From The Parent’s Tao Te Ching by William Martin
Read More in Sarah WritesJanuary 22, 2010
Neighborly Love
The fantastic Miss Amy over at The Never-True Tales has started a Fabulous Friday Guest Post chain called Won’t You Be My Neighbor? I’m sure you’ve heard about this, as it seems to be popping up everywhere in the Neighborhood. We are delighted by our blog community and thus delighted to have become a part of the Guest Post Mania! Head over to The Never-True Tales for Driving Under the Cellular Influence. And check out the link below for more information on how to get your own neighbors to join in the fun!
Read More in guest post, Sarah WritesJanuary 20, 2010
This is my life: Two hours at a time
Sarah and I thought we’d start a new series. Simple pieces and/or photos that just tell it like it is. The basic day-to-day of having three kids. Straightforward and less about the emotional part of mothering every now and then. We’ve decided to call it This is My Life. So, here goes my first attempt: My days are divided into two-hour blocks, which go something like this. 6:30 a.m. Wake up 8:30 a.m. Out the door to drop off B and S at school 9:30 a.m. Home from drop off 11:30 a.m. Out the door to pick up S 12:30 [...]
Read More in Jen Writes, motherhood, three kids, unpaid workJanuary 18, 2010
Perspective
Max is two. Officially. But almost-nearly-not-quite three. He has a bump on his tummy next to his navel. It comes and goes, protruding a barely noticeable amount one day and becoming an alarming size the next. We don’t know what it is. The doctor doesn’t know what it is. And in common terms, it’s freaking me out! _______________________ My car broke down last week. I was driving along and then I wasn’t. And then I was stuck at home, or was I? The kids went off to school and dayhome and I was left to a house full of laundry [...]
Read More in Sarah Writes, three kidsJanuary 16, 2010
Humbled
How can I sit in my HOUSE, look around at my THINGS and want MORE? When there are people who have nothing, have lost everything and don’t even know if their loved ones are alive? Why, so often, does it take the worst to make me appreciate all that I have. This amazing family. A safe, warm, happy home. Friends. My sister. The other night I watched a documentary about the Young at Heart Chorus, a group of men and women whose average age is 80 (or older!) who perform across the world. They sing songs by the Ramones, James [...]
Read More in Jen Writes, three kidsJanuary 14, 2010
We care what people think about us
I went for a swim last night. I wanted release. I wanted weightlessness. The constant, rhythmic exertion. The void of outside distraction. The forced internal focus. The freedom of knowing I have nowhere to hide. That it is just me and the water. And that time, though tracked by lengths and breaths, is suspended. I can slip between the minutes and vanish from the public eye. I got in the pool and I did a few laps and I waited for the smooth motions to take over my body and for my mind to find it’s essential resting spot for [...]
Read More in body image, exercise, health, mind/body, Sarah Writes, three kidsJanuary 13, 2010
Remember Gremlins?
I wasn’t going to write anything at all with this. However, I feel it is vital to point out that Tammy was Sarah’s beloved Cabbage Patch doll. As far as I know, all other references are to actual people. (But don’t ask me about the Nerds in hearts.)
Read More in history aka before kids, Jen Writes, sisters, three kidsJanuary 12, 2010
(un)stuck
Yesterday I was cruising along in my car singing the Pussycat Dolls. It was the middle of the work day and I was being a good girl and doing the bank run. I hate to do the bank run. What’s fun about depositing tens and hundreds of thousands of dollars into accounts that are not yours? Nothing. Nothing at all. It’s rather depressing, actually. But I was rather content with the day. Just for being. Thank you, day, for being what you are sometimes. Another chance. Upon leaving the bank I noticed a puddle in the parking lot. My van [...]
Read More in Sarah Writes, three kidsI want so much to sit here and write. Breathe poetry and magic and spin words that lay dormant in my heart. But the days are so long. And I am so drained. And my body longs for sleep. My mind beckons peace. So today a short quip. I packed the family for a trip to the pool this afternoon. Come hell or high water I was determined to get the kids out of this house. The pool is always a fabulous destination and so I packed. We left. We drove. We arrived. There was ten minutes of struggling two [...]
Read More in Sarah WritesJanuary 7, 2010
A Writer’s Life?
How much of my life should I reveal here? Where do I draw the line regarding what personal details or thoughts or doubts to include? Does leaving myself vulnerable make me naive? Negligent? Irresponsible? To myself? To others whose lives are inseparable from my own? But. How can I be authentic without sometimes being vulnerable? These are some of the questions that arise again and again. And the answers are no closer to the surface. I know that I will not post photos. Or use names. I will not reveal any identifying details about where I live. Perhaps you could [...]
Read More in Jen Writes, three kids, writingJanuary 6, 2010
The Receipt
With a play cash register, some plastic food, a marker, a small pad of paper and a reusable grocery bag, my children started the day playing. Together. A grocery store. A list. Shopping. They played in one room as I sat in another, drinking coffee, listening to their imaginations float through to me. I smiled. I laughed. I made a grocery list for them. They were the cashier and the customer. They called for a price check and a cleanup in aisle 9, or their own equivalent of each. I tuned out and tuned in as I sat, doing something, [...]
Read More in chores, home, Jen Writes, oldest child, siblings, three kidsJanuary 5, 2010
Should I let my kid win sometimes?
When I was a kid my brother, my sister and I would hole up in a bedroom or the corner of the living room during the Holiday break and start a marathon tournament of Monopoly. At least, I assume it was winter. I think I remember flannel pajamas, well-worn slippers and blankets tucked around our legs. I know I remember mornings before my parents had risen spent trading Park Place for all of those Orange properties. St. James Place? New York Avenue? I remember the sound of the tossing dice–cheers and grumbles both at the resulting numbers. I remember losing [...]
Read More in motherhood, oldest child, Sarah Writes, three kidsJanuary 4, 2010
Sometimes you have to just let them fend for themselves
The kids, I mean. Your kids. The ones who are constantly underfoot. Asking for something. A snack. Help. A story. A solution to their everpresent boredom. But sometimes you just have to let them fend for themselves. You have to let them fight, keeping an ear out for bloodshed but otherwise staying out of it. Sometimes you just have to make the decision to get something done. So you find the hammer and level. And the picture hangers. And you dust off the photos you’ve been meaning to hang for months. And some, for years. And you just go for [...]
Read More in history aka before kids, home, housework, Jen Writes, motherhood, three kidsJanuary 2, 2010
Ten from Jen: Blog Posts of 2009
We only started Momalom in March. But I liked Scary Mommy’s idea of choosing a favorite post from each month. This was more difficult than I anticipated. Not because I’m so vain to think that I have many “bests,” but because I read so many old posts and relived so many moments of introspection of the past year. A side-effect of blogging, I am finding. But it’s a good way to pause and reflect, too, which is something I’ve been trying to do. So, here are my top 10 of 2009. March: Wine with dinner makes me philosophical (Be careful [...]
Read More in Jen Writes, three kids