My Mother's Day couldn't have started any better than it did--after days of rocky sleep and after hours of instruction by Scott the night before, both kids let me sleep until 8:30. 8:30! This was a wonderful and much-needed change from Saturday morning, when L. woke us up at 5:00 a.m.--worked up we think from anxiety about the babysitter who was coming that morning to watch the kids while Scott and I headed off to our respective college's graduation ceremonies. [more]

I have always--all my life--been one to get a head start on processing change, or upcoming traumatic events (the loss of a pet, loss of a loved one). Rather than waiting until the thing happens, I face it head on months before I need to. When I was pregnant with T., for instance, I spent weeks mourning the loss of L.'s only child status, and worrying about the shift from a family of three to a family of four. Hormones running rampant, I would weep over silly story books, or simple moments with L., as I tried to come to terms with the transition. [more]

My son and I made these photo frames for his grandmothers and great grandmothers last Mother's Day .They were such a hit I am sharing them here. The beauty of these frames are that if your family is like ours, we are scattered all over North America and shipping gifts can get expensive. Foam is light and they fit into a 6x9 envelope not problem with room for a card too! [more]

Every year around this time, some company or organization sends out a press release (in print, radio, Web and TV) describing the “market value” of stay-at-home Moms. The release concludes that “after significant research” (which is really simply adding the average national salaries of bus driver, nurse, office manager, chef, teacher and so on) that the Chief Mom Officer position is worth somewhere around $130–150K. It’s also one of the biggest non-stories produced each year, and I have no choice but to roll my eyes and yawn whenever I see it. [more]