Enjoy Them While They’re Young
On Saturday, my husband and I left our house a mess and took the girls to the fall festival in town. The cool breeze stripped a few leaves off the trees and sent them scuttling down the sidewalk as we
The Beginning, Again
On Tuesday, at the coffee shop, I noticed a young mom and dad sitting across from each other. The mom scarfed down a sandwich while glancing at the car seat on the table as if the newborn could escape. I loved
The Story’s in the Growth
This week, I went for my daily walk and saw my husband had pulled a chair over to our creek. It moved me to picture my better half, of almost nine years, sitting there and being still. With my three-month-old
He’s in the Waiting
In June, my husband was due for a scan, but not feeling any urgency, we pushed it off until mid-July. He had an MRI done here in town, and the scans were snail-mailed to his neurosurgeon at Mayo Clinic. Then
Choosing People Over My Phone. Won’t You Join Me?
I sat on a chair facing the front windows of the coffee shop, which is always a hazardous position, since I tend to people-watch rather than write. And, sure enough, within five minutes I was studying the mother and daughter
Making the Moments Last
This week, my eldest started kindergarten, and my youngest grew out of her newborn sleepers. The fact that my five-year-old once wore her ten-week-old sister’s sleepers (as did her middle sister) made both transitions even more acute. I remember laying
Can’t See Eden for the Fall
My best friend and I stood in the perennial bed in front of her river cottage, looking out over her farm. Ducks waddled and honked as they splashed in the baby pool. The black mare twitched her tail while grazing
My Favorite Day
I don’t even remember how it began. "My favorite day" was just one of those adorable, grammatically incorrect sayings a child utters and her parents cannot soon forget. Since then, I have tried to get my daughters to keep an eye
The Truth About “Happily Ever After”
Barely 9 p.m. and my husband and I were sprawled across the bed as if we’d been shot. “I don’t even know what day it is,” he said. “It’s Satur—" I paused. "No, wait . . . it’s Friday.” “I’ll just be glad
Turn Around & They’re Grown
Seven years ago, my husband and I went out to Wisconsin for a wedding. During the rehearsal dinner, we sat across from one of his relatives, who had three children under five. The man’s eyes were bloodshot, and two of