Love, Mama ~ Words of advice for my graduating daughter

May 17, 2016

Two years ago my daughter was about to leave the nest. The soft, feathered, built-painstakingly-by-hand nest I’d created for her since the moment I knew she existed. Fine, her father helped…but still. I knew I needed to tell her all the things before she left, but didn’t feel like I needed to write one of the…

47 … I guess

March 28, 2016

Last week was my birthday. For those (16) of you who’ve been hanging around here since the beginning, you’ve helped me through the last four of them. Sure, maybe we haven’t been together in person, but since I started this blog it’s been a form of therapy for me, and when you pass a *cough*…

Freshman year anxiety…and the importance of stepping back

September 13, 2015

Last week, right after taking the older daughter back to college and the resulting fallout (i.e., shoe-buying excursions) that occurred from that, the younger daughter began serving her time in the big house. High school. Ninth grade. Freshman year.   As you might imagine, there was some wine consumed. And while my rising freshman had spent…

time moving quickly

Falling off isn’t an option

April 28, 2015

You guys, I’m a failure. For the past two years I’ve been trying fiercely to halt the hands of time, and I just can’t. A year ago, as I was staring in the face of my daughter’s graduation and her impending departure from our little nest, I wrote a short post (one of my favorites) about how…

This is 46.

March 20, 2015

46. Forty-six. XLVI. Quarante-six. (Damn, even in French it sounds old.) Tomorrow I will be 46. What. The. Hell. Like I always say about my children, I blinked and it happened. Actually, that’s not entirely true. Those years from birth to about age 15 seemed to totally drag. If you’ve been following along here the…

There she was: A birthday post for my daughter.

October 22, 2014

At some point* in the next few days I’ll be the mother of a 19-year-old. *I actually do know when, in case you were worried. A nineteen year old. (BRB, I need to go do a shot and sing some Wham! so I don’t feel as old as that makes me sound.) The point is, most some there’s…

Band-aids, roller coasters, and other thoughts about sending my daughter off to college

August 14, 2014

Two weeks from today I’ll be giving my daughter that famous last hug before I leave her at college; the one everyone talks and writes about. They say it’s supposed to be quick — like ripping off a band-aid. I say “they” can suck it. Besides, when my daughter was little, she’d pull a band-aid…

Made with love … and wine

August 11, 2014

I used to like to think I was crafty. When my girls were little I’d pull out the old-school, gritty construction paper, felt squares, yarn, googly eyes, and pipe cleaners every now and again for distraction. Problem was, I was always left with really ugly shit that I had to display proudly on my walls…

Dorm Room Shopping: The Dos and Don’ts

July 23, 2014

Yesterday I checked another big life event off the list. Something that you hear about other people doing but don’t really think about doing yourself until you are in the middle of it. Botox? Colonoscopy? No, I took my daughter shopping for college. You know, the anticipated trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond and Target…

How to Avoid Sharks, and other important lessons to help your pre-teen daughter survive puberty

July 7, 2014

I grew up in a girl-centered household. With only one sister and a single mother, conversations about periods, puberty, cramps, boys and bras were natural. Now that I have two teenage daughters of my own – one well on the downward slope of her teen years and one just getting started – there’s an overabundance…

All I learned from my daughter she learned in Kindergarten

May 30, 2014

Yesterday was my daughter’s last day of high school. I’d like to tell you I spent the day reminiscing and going through old photos and school papers while drinking mimosas and wiping away beautiful tears, but that’s not true. Well, most of it’s not true.

It’s time.

April 30, 2014

This is how I’ve been living my life since September. Parents of current or former high school seniors will understand. While it’s true that I’ve spent the past two or three years (over)thinking this time in our lives, nothing I imagined could have prepared me for how fast it came flying at — and by…