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
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 Magnum Opus & Motherhood
Sitting up at night with my infant child, my feet rocking the glider on their own, plots begin to stir and thicken as characters bob to the surface in the sleepy cauldron of my mind. Tomorrow, I think, swaddling my daughter
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
Walking Into The Light
“Aw! How old is she?!” I didn’t look up, but continued unzipping my infant daughter’s ladybug sleeper and unsnapping her onesie, both of which were soaked through with urine. My husband turned toward the curious women and smiled. “Three days old.” I
#Nesting
“Mooom!” my five-year-old cried. “We are trying to go to sleep!” “I’m almost done.” My husband said, “Do you really need to do that right now?” “Yes,” I replied. “If I go into labor tonight, I want to know the carpet's vacuumed.” My husband