Over the past two weeks, I’ve been sharing some of the bloggers I adore. First I talked about the absolutely beautiful and authentic souls I’ve had the great honor to “meet” here. Then I shared some writers/authors and book reviewers I enjoy every chance I get. Now it’s time for me to share some of the mothers I enjoy reading. Unfortunately, this was a bit harder to do as mom bloggers have a tendency to vanish from the blogging world, so, even though I enjoy a number that have come and gone and come and gone again, I’ll just be sharing the ones who post more often. I Didn’t Want…
-
-
Finding Magic in Motherhood, Part 10: School and Pregnancy
I had about a week between the ultrasound and the start of my Spring semester, a week to finally let the thought I was pregnant settle in. Of course, that came with a whole host of other fears. I still wasn’t past the first trimester, so there was still a good chance I would lose this baby, too. But my more pressing issue was having to sit in classrooms for most of the day twice a week while battling nausea and keeping my symptoms under wraps. I was lucky. The first trimester was kind to me. It was almost as though the universe decided I’d gone through enough with my…
-
Balancing Blogging and Living
On Tuesdays, I usually share the stories, writing related posts, book reviews, and book releases I’ve come across over the past week. Last week I was fortunate to host an author and his nonfiction book Taking Action for a Better Tomorrow. I had planned on doing another stories, etc. post today, but I must also be a person with a life to live. I’m a busy wife and mother. Even though I never, ever had any plans of being a stay-at-home mom, it’s where I’ve found myself for nearly three years now. Recently, thanks to a lovely mom sharing another lovely mom’s story, I’ve been trying to take my role to heart,…
-
Not Snow Days, But Fire Days
My son was born in Pennsylvania. We moved to California when he was six weeks old, so he has no memories of his first home, and only a dim understanding of what snow is as we have yet to take our kids to the mountains during the winter. He’s five and has just started school. He’s loving it so far, but, as he gets older and understands more, I wonder how he’ll react when he learns he could have had snow days. I’m a California girl, born and raised. I never knew snow days existed. I grew up watching TV shows that took place back East and always saw high…
-
Parenting with Psychology: ABA Behavior Modification
Personally, I hate the term behavior modification. But it has an important place in ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis). Anyone who has worked with, known, or been in contact with a child with an autism spectrum disorder knows behaviors are inevitable. These are highly sensitive, highly rigid individuals, which makes even the slightest deviation tantrum-worthy. The goal of ABA behavior modification isn’t to try to control the children or their behaviors. It’s to understand why the child is behaving that way so they can be taught how to ask for what they want and express their needs in a more socially acceptable way. It helps give them tools they can take…
-
Finding Magic in Motherhood, Part 1: The Mother was a Kid, too
Every parent was once a child. Sometimes it feels so long ago, as though it couldn’t have happened. Other times, it’s like it was just yesterday. Today, I am a mother. But, once, I was a child, a child with a mother. Not every child has a mother, and not every child has a mother they love and adore. I was lucky. I am lucky. I still have the mother I absolutely adore. The mother who raised me to be the mother I am today. All because she let me be a child. She let me live my childhood to its fullest. She encouraged me to explore what childhood is so I…
-
The Mom I Admire
The mom I admire is a bit harried, a little scattered, and definitely missing a marble or three. She constantly wonders how she’s stacking up against every other mom, especially the one without a hair out of place. She spends all day begging her kids to eat, clean up after themselves, and stop screaming. And half the night tearfully pleading her baby to go to sleep. She has permanent stains on her clothes from the time her oldest refused peas as a baby and the time she skidded on the dirt and grass to save her child from getting hurt and the time her sick kid puked all over her…
-
Looking Forward to Having Both Kids Home All Summer
Many parents, my own included, look forward to sending their kids back to school as soon as summer vacation starts. Actually, I liked sending myself back to school, too. But I know my mom, and many other parents, look forward to having some child-free time again, look forward to some degree of freedom knowing their kids are being taught and watched for a number of hours five days a week. I don’t doubt that that will be me one day, especially when both kids are in school. But, right now, this summer, I look forward to having both of my babies home with me. It’s my son’s last summer before…
-
The Weekly Question #7
If you had to (not got to) live on another planet (whether or not it’s actually habitable), which planet would it be? My son loves space. We live not too far away from JPL and have had the good fortune to visit twice. The last time was for their open house. One of their exhibits was about exoplanets. It was lovely; they had it set up kind of like a travel agency, though what they had to say about some of the planets (which were quite cute and funny) made me thankful I live in Earth. But it got me thinking… if I had to live on another planet, which…
-
The Weekly Question #3
Do you believe in magic? Since I’m taking this blog in a magical direction, I’m curious to know how many people believe in magic. I don’t remember what first introduced me to fantasy and magic, but I had fallen into fantasy books by the time I was 10. A lot of my memories are of magic, witches, and dragons. I spent a lot of my free time devouring them, or trying desperately to make magic work. I tried writing my own spells and reciting the words given to me in the books I read. This was years before Harry Potter, though I tried those, too. I used to wish on…
