secret weekend

Words from the vault

• A Christmas Wish Come True

  I keep thinking about magic. It's the time of year no doubt. The tales I tell of Santa and his sleigh. The songs we sing. The reindeer food that we'll throw up to the roof on Christmas eve. The enchantment of gifts that will spill out from under the tree, delighting us all with their pretty papers a

• The risks we take with kids - more kids, more risks? The risks less risky?

  I take so many risks. I'm not sure if the risks I take now as a parent of three are greater or more severe than the risks I took as a parent of one (or two) OR if it just appears that way because the things I thought were risky back then are part of my very very every day now. Some things just are n

• Ten things you may not know: The physical me

  I have only one ovary (and one fallopian tube) All of my other internal organs are in tact (as far as I know) My lips are not my own (but once they were) My heart has been broken (and is stronger for it) I have never broken a bone (but I have seen Sarah's arm in a cast) My skin is finicky and d

• Update

  In no particular order: One popcorn kernel up nose--and retrieved (my kid) One fall off of a lawn chair (Sarah's kid) Many, many small plastic toy parts fished out of the cheeks (of the babies) Eight popsicles (four kids) Three boxes of Annies mac n cheese (all of us) Three bathing suits and

• 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

• Spring

  Oh my gosh my goodness my glory it's spring. Thank u spring. Thank u sunshine. I've been huddled in a cloud of looming desperation for weeks. Often taking the time to research in-network shrinks but never making the call - I knew that I'd begin to feel this rebirth soon. And now it's all coming

• A letter to a friend

  Meg,I am absolutely thrilled in every way to find out that you are, by golly, finally pregnant!!! Yay! Wahoo! Skideedle Dat! (that sounded cool in my head)I have to say that I was kind of stunned and amazed to hear the news last night. I certainly wasn't expecting it. It was so nonchalant how you of

• How I make it through the week as a full-time working mother

  Working full-time is kicking my ass. It's been nearly two weeks and I'm absolutely drained. Sitting in front of a computer for 8 hours punching numbers and taking calls and writing letters and decoding mumbled instructions from my boss is all so very draining. A few things have helped me along the w

• Zen Update

  Here's the brief vacation update: Eleven children run around - in and out of bathing suits, rotating nap schedules and snack choices, amusing us and exhausting us - all at the same time. There are five little bodies sleeping in a tent on a small patch of grass just above the sandy beach of the la

• Haves and Have Nots

  I have three sleeping children. I have not read the local newspaper, which we have delivered daily, in at least two weeks. I have a knot in my upper back/neck region that is making it painful to type. I have not cleaned the bathrooms in a week. (They could easily benefit from a sponge daily