Sitting around a table. I know my child can be infuriating. “That sounds… Accurate.” I say. “That has been my experience as well. I have found a few ways to navigate that type of situation.” But then the word “defiant”…

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We’ve been having a lot of different conversations lately about what is fair, what is equal and when equal is not fair. About levels of need, ability, maturity and responsibility. And about how a life where everyone participates is a…

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Often it isn’t the world outside of my head that causes me the most grief. Often it is the world inside my head. I’m learning to edit my inner narrative. The constant soundtrack that plays across my days and that…

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Keenie is standing on a bathmat in the dining room pretending the floor is lava. She is gesticulating wildly at… something… in the classroom and demanding that Wren bring it to her. “Keenie, what do you want Wren to bring…

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When we first moved here the garbage can was in the perfect location. In a cranny between two sections of the counter. I keep my cutting board on one side and a bowl of fruit on the other. It lived…

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I pull in to a spot next to the cart return. Put the van in park. Sit for a moment to take a deep breath. Then I turn the keys in the ignition. I feel the resistance of the keys.…

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Not everyone will be nice to them, you know. Not everyone will treat kids kindly. Toughen them up! No thank you. Today my five year old daughter came to me and said matter-of-factly “I do not think he is a…

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Wren points at a water bottle.   Usually she wants to drink.  I pick it up and open it. She looks inside. Bobs in excitement.  Then points to one of the other water bottles. She babbles with word-like things.  Being…

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Yesterday it was pouring.  Today the sun is shining.  I’m snuggled under a mountain of blankets while a toddler in a red knit sweater climbs all over me and kneads my mama-belly with her scritchy scratchy hands that are ungentle…

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I’m barefoot and braless in the kitchen. Hair a mess, teeth unbrushed, my glasses smudged with egg. A thirteen month old is balanced on my hip while I dip pieces of bread into eggs and drop them on a sizzling…

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