It’s all over the news, and as the Jian Ghomeshi trial begins, my hands are frigid. Yours may be, too. There are so many of us who have been sexual assault victims. So many witnesses to travesties of justice. Maybe many have decided that now is a great time for a technology-free vacation in the woods somewhere.
Wait.
As a mom of four littles, I often have to navigate the kitchen with care. While we have a nice kitchen, it’s not quite big enough to handle 4 extra bodies that don’t yet know how to control themselves. Most of the help they offer comes in the form of dumping cups of flour or stirring the contents of a bowl for me, which is nice if you can let go of the mess that inevitably occurs. My 9 year old has been asking for a bit more of a lesson in the kitchen recently. She wants to learn how to make a few of her favorite meals on her own. Who am I to turn down such an opportunity?
Unique baby names are so important. They give meaning, show kindness to your heritage, and personality. Also, you probably worry about your kid being called something horrible in school. Wow. It feels like a bigger decision than getting pregnant in the first place. So many of us would love to avoid the ‘Jennifer 1’ , ‘Jennifer 2’ phenomenon that plagued us through grade school. Some of us bought every typical book, and frustrated with the normalcy, went through newspapers, Restoration Hardware catalogues and then, the atlas. (Of course…)
While I was never a Minolo Blahnik wearing stylista in the city, back in the days of freedom, I used to love to throw on some heels and a chic (or so I’d thought) ensemble. My friends and I would get together, at a local bar. We’d drink cocktails and dance the night away, in a circle, like a ring of shoe and purse worshipers.
We have a live in nanny and he rocks. His name is David and he has been living with us for almost a year. David was a family friend before he moved in. He never intended to be our manny (a live-in nanny, who happens to be a man) but the situation worked out well for him and for us, so here we are.
I’ve always just been the girl that had separate pockets of women that I connect with – some far away and some that live close. Some of them are from the workplace, and some are parents from school. More often now, many women I know have a larger circle of online friends. We may not be Snapchat-ting all day like our kids, but these online friends are just a quick text away.
I am a determined, independent woman with strong opinions (sometimes to my detriment, to be sure) but I have (mostly) learned along my 40-year journey when to bare my teeth and when to turn my back. And then I had a daughter. I had to think about raising a girl. All of a sudden, I felt the weight of having to teach her how to be all of those things that I wanted to be, too, while still making sure she didn’t choke on grapes or fall out of the stroller.
It’s not uncommon to have a child who hates homework. No child out there enjoys doing homework they get from school. Many children just get it done and move on with their other activities, but some children really struggle to get their homework done.
Oh dear. Spotting before your period – what does it mean? Your period is not due for at least another week, but you have found a little blood or pink or brown discharge that isn’t followed by normal flow bleeding. This is spotting and tends to always lead to your heart skipping a beat.
I’ve been working lately on trying to get my morning act together. Not so much my routine, but my mindset upon waking. I’d fallen into a habit of opening my eyes, tossing out a quick mental, “Hey God, it’s me, Annie,” picking up my phone, and immediately bombarding myself with the day’s news and to-dos. I knew I needed a new habit—something to replace my (rather pathetic) God nod and morning Facebook feast.