Surrender to what? My three week wait to birth my son
About a week before my due date, I was in the change room at the local pool, and a woman in her sixties told me that each of her three babies were three weeks late. I was mildly appalled and silently certain that she must have had her dates wrong or some deep-seated psychological issues about being a mother. Being the nerd that I am, I had four years of data on my ovulation cycle. I was pretty confident about the dates.
My daughter and I bonded over Harry Potter fanfic
Fanfic exists to fill in those gaps between episodes, to make plots make more sense; to carry on a beloved series of books after the author has abandoned it. And, let’s be honest here, to let the characters do what their creators never would — have sex. Lots and lots of sex.
My experience applying Zen Buddhism to labor and breastfeeding
When I went into labor with my son at 1:30 on Monday afternoon, I never imagined that he wouldn’t arrive into the world until 12:40 on Wednesday afternoon. Somehow, I survived forty seven hours of labor and lived to tell the tale. Surprisingly, I was even joyful and mentioning things I’d like to do differently “next time” as soon as we were recovering. Other than the epidural, my secret to managing a nearly two full days of labor is Buddhism.
Making lunch fun with dinosaur quesadillas and bento plates
Want to shake mealtimes up a bit? Cook up your own version of Jen’s self-titled “bento on a plate” — cookie cutter sets and creativity go a long way to calming a picky eater.
Dust off your fave ’90s dramedies and save them to share with your angsty love-struck teen
Even though I spent a good bit of my time pretending I lived in the ’80s and listening to punk music, I spent most of my reality living in the ’90s and listening to singer-songwriters and what would grow to become know as folk rock. When I met my best friend, she introduced me to a couple of ’90s film gems with my kind of people and music, and the rest is teenage history.
A pin-up and pregnant Rosie the Riveter-inspired maternity session
You know what’s awesome about this maternity series? It features a crafty pregnant mom who digs Rosie the Riveter and amazing hair decorations. DIG IN.
What happens when your family video goes viral
I woke up on Monday to find a ton of emails in my inbox from YouTube letting me know that people were commenting on my video “Leisurely Lunch.” What? The video had over 3,000 hits. Again, what?!
Four ways to reconnect with pets after you have kids
Sarah was the reason I came home and slept in my own bed in high school. In college, she kept me feeling safe and comforted in my string of lonely student rentals. She greeted my husband at the door on our first date, and she met us at the door when we brought home each of our kids. But that was where the old times ended; the truth is, several years into motherhood, I felt like my relationship with Sarah was altered beyond repair.