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Inspired by my girl Lyz. Don’t read her? You’re crazy. I’m also over at Blessed is She today talking about firing up your love neurons and overcoming my tendency to judge & loathe rather than love. True stories. How much do you like being a mother? Well, it’s a little late to switch occupations. What the biggest surprise when you first became a mother? How overwhelming it was. The responsibilities and the love. Do you have a favorite child? No. Everyone was my favorite for their age. Did you have a favorite age of child? Truly. This is true to me: every age had its negatives and positives. I think the positives always were so much farther ahead than the negatives. This is a really boring interview. I’m not a jokester. I’m not a Jon Stewart. You’re not gonna get some clever little phrase from me. But you’re clever and you can take and twist any of my statements into some “haha hohoh heheh” thing. Was it different raising your son versus your daughters? Definitely. Girls love to talk. Boys don’t want to be talked at//to//with. They just want to be left alone. The girls all wanted to talk and visit and share all their ideas and just have a cuppa hot cocoa and chit chat. “Did you hear that, Peter?” “Are you done with your lecture now? I wanna go play.” Too many words! They’re both wonderful. Was it hard when your mom died and you were still raising small kids? I miss my…
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Don’t tell me I never did anything for you. I know. Another holiday with Nell telling you what to buy. I just love gifts! They’re a major love language for me so I love impressing my gift thoughts onto you. Or foisting. Or forcing? Don’t answer that. It’s rhetorical. 1) Blessed Is She tee {coupon: BiSlovesWP for 25% off!) 2) Hatch Prints My girlfriend Katrina just opened it and I got this one for my mom. But I also really love this one. Because she has told it to her five children about a bazillion times. 3) Noise cancellation headphones I am Not Joking. 4) the new Scythian albums We listen to Old Tin Can and Jump at the Sun everyday. Not kidding. And sometimes we take in the children’s album they made. But my kids really love the non-kid music too. We must dance to “Same old Man” as well as “Fields of St. James” during breakfast. And even when they’re asleep, I love to listen to them. Music for the whole family. 5) Bath salt scrub by Brooklyn Herborium Yes. Use it every bath. I feel like I just was in the ocean. Or a full body facial. 6) Blue Apron meal They don’t operate in Minnesota but Grace has talked about how much she loves this. They deliver you all the ingredients for a fresh meal and you just follow directions. It’s deluxe meal planning. 7) A cleaning service {even just once} Deep clean. Deeply clean. Maybe…
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If everything were picked up and put away and all the closets organized and the pantry immaculate, I would be happier. True or false? Deep down. I wanna scream TRUE and run away until someone comes and either does this to my house permanently or whisks my kids away so I can do it for the hot second they’re not in that room. But really? Maybe it’s my acceptance of lowered expectations as a mom of three, but it actually is possible to be at peace when your house is in disarray. I mean, like truly, at peace. Not furtively making lists on any available writable-ish surface about all the ways to make it under your control. 1) identify emergency areas and address them first Soggy dish cloths on the floor of the pantry must be laundered by the end of the day. Where their basket grew legs and hobbled off to I have no idea. But I do know that if I don’t run that laundry, the mildew and mold and little toddlers who attack said murky cloths will come. Dishes have to be cleaned. I try to never go to sleep with crusty dishes. Wiped countertops & clean sink are a must for me. I cannot bear that morning breakfast whilst parenting solo with the kids if I’m facing last night’s lasagna pan. Cloth diapers must be tended to. If I’ve stacked a few poopies on the back of the toilet for AA to flush and it’s day 2, I…
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Brimming with lovely things to tell you about, dear friends. Just brimming. Head to Kelly’s for better & more seven quick takes! 1. FOOD But first, to bring you the news of . . . what we’ve been eating. Super classy string cheese caprese salad. Broccoli italian sausage penne béchamel sauce yum yum. 2. FRIENDS We visited a close family friend’s new home in the woods. Oh my goodness it was so resplendent and mighty. The kids roamed freely and my heart just burst with joy for their family for finding their dream home. It’s only an hour away (though I wish they lived a minute away) so easy day trip for us! The grandmas enjoyed their grandkiddos but I failed to get a shot of all of the kids that were there. SHEA, why didn’t I take this when you guys were still there? 3. RADIO Do you know Heather, Rebecca, and Bonnie? Because I love these ladies and I love that they’re debuting their radio show this Sunday night at 7:30 pacific time. I got to hear a sneak preview. Let’s just say I was snorting with laughter. You want real moms dishing it like it is with a side of Catholic? Yup. Go, girlz! 4. NEW ETSY I LURVE My girlfriend Katrina makes art look effortless in her new hand drawn & watercolored print shoppe on etsy: Hatch Prints. Visit, buy, and ooh and aah! I bought this for my mom for mother’s day. And this for…
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My friend Liz is one of those women who must be too good to be true. She’s hugging my third baby here. And this woman! Whew! Four amazing kids. Adoring husband. Chickens. Sweet tattoos. Runs her own childbirth education center, Enlightened Mama in Saint Paul services the Twin Cities. IBCLC (that’s the highest level of lactation expert). Doula. And she always has time for me. Even if it’s just for me to run over one evening and talk birthy talk with a glass of wine. Actually I’ve done this a lot. This time, though, we kicked it off with her advice on my going insane with three kids and how can I get my brain back. She solved my problem, by the way. After she counseled me on that, she let me do a little series of interviews with her for expecting parents. She answers the most common questions I hear over and over again from friends who are waiting for their first to come along. Tips from Liz on preparing for the best outcome for nursing. Watch this short interview with her and look for our next one next week!
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My sweet daughter, now THREE!, went through about 8 months of not caring about me, or for me, or really even wanting anything to do with me. She loved having a new baby, and still adores her little brother, but once he came along and I was out of it for so long, I think her affections grew stronger for other members of the family, my parents, my sister, certainly AA. She’d protest coming to sit on my lap, read with me, have me put her down for naps or bedtime, have me put her in the carseat, have me do most things for her (at that point she was still in diapers for naps & bedtime so changes were a real party). Every morning when she discovered, to her shock and dismay, that once again Dada had abandoned her for work, she would wail. And look for him everywhere. It’s a big house. That was a lot of wandering wailing. It hurt, and I remembered how SuperBoy was the same after she was born. I realized this was a stage and now am much more appreciative and open to connecting with her on her terms. SuperBoy feels close with us listening to an audiobook while I’m cooking because he’s with me and we’re talking. She feels close when I leave my chores in the kitchen and come up to her room. I’ve stopped say “later” and now actually do it–go and play with her and leave the chores for later. They’ll…
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