The trauma of being a NICU parent doesn’t dissipate when you bring your child home.
I don’t know how to raise boys
My daughter Haley owns three pairs of gloves; her favorites are white satin. She wears them around the house, while sweeping the floors, putting her baby dolls to bed and dancing. When she twirls in circles, I twirl beside her (though mainly I fake turn because twirling makes me dizzy). While she sweeps the floor,…
Spending Christmas in the NICU
Turned over yet again, the toy bin lays defeated on the floor. Toys are sprawled out across the living room, but on this occasion, I’m not fixating on how long it will take to rectify the decimation. Instead, one singular toy has attained my focus. It’s a six-inch Cookie Monster doll, whose belly lights up…
The Unfair Advantage of Mothers
Exploring the silent burden of unnatural traits.
A day in the life of 3 kids under 2 years old.
I’m reading an article on my phone as I hurry from the parking garage into my office building. It’s showcasing a mother explaining proper alignment of nap schedules for young kids – parenting requires “agility and grace”, she says. I laugh. My morning has already had a blundering, although not unordinary, start. One of my…
When is it ok to worry?
This is my son, Holden, when he was one week old. Born into the world prematurely, along with his twin brother, he spent his first six weeks of life resembling, as I can only describe now as, Benjamin Button. As his mother, I still found him beautiful, even if in my core I worried about…
Should we stop critiquing our spouse’s parenting skills?
It’s Sunday night, I’ve been traveling for work for the past week, only returning late Friday night. Of course, while away, my toddler comes down with a horrible head cold, immediately passing it to me the moment I walk in the door (probably because I refuse to turn away from snot-filled kisses). By Sunday night,…
Are some holidays more trouble than they’re worth?
The post on our neighborhood app, Nextdoor, reads, “Help, lost wedding band at Halloween parade.” – its a hail mary attempt to find my husband’s wedding band that seems to have disappeared in the last 24 hours, along with any remaining chunks of my sanity. 11 months into life with a toddler and baby twins, I…