They’re so small. You’d think that a mother approaching the birth of her fourth child in seven years (well, 7 ½) wouldn’t be floored by the sheer tininess. But as I pulled out our trusty cloth diapers, counted them, stacked them in the drawer, I couldn’t believe it. Every single baby diaper fit in one…
Read MoreAll articles filed in attitude
What if My Attitude Shapes Reality?
(Warning: This is going to be an uncomfortable read.) One of my blog friends started a series yesterday on “the practices of mothering.” Sarah’s blog, Emerging Mummy, is one of the must-reads of every day, no matter how busy. Sarah breathes serenity through her words, exudes a faith that I can only hope someday to…
Read MoreIn Need of a Fresh Start
So I’m a slow learner. I know that attitude changes everything. I know that put-on anger in the interest of discipline leads smoothly to real anger, and real anger to helpless rage, and that starting a cycle leads to looking at all of life in the negative. And yet here I am again. On the…
Read MoreReflections on the End of the World
If you knew this was your last day on earth, what would you do today? Usually when people ask this question, they’re trying to get us to think about our lives differently, to rearrange our priorities properly. It’s a rhetorical device used to make the point that a lot of what we spend our time…
Read MoreGreat Expectations
The problem with special, “all about me” days—birthdays, Mother’s Day—is that you build up your expectations for them so high that no day can support the weight of the tower constructed on its slim shoulders. After all, a day is pretty much the same, no matter what you call it: the sun rises, the sun…
Read MoreSometimes, Motherhood Ain’t Pretty
I had intended to piggyback on my Tuesday post, and wax sentimental about the reaction of my children when I walked in the house after a two-day absence. But my final parenting moment last night involved Nicholas screaming…yes, screaming…in my face for ten minutes straight because he dropped a squishy pool ball on his way…
Read MoreExisting in the Moment
It’s easier to be thankful in the crisis moments. Crises burn all the pettiness out of life. During them, you really exist in the present. You stop getting angry because the dishes aren’t done and the city didn’t plow your street properly, and your brain hums with awareness of all that is good about the…
Read MoreTeaching a Healthy Sexuality to Our Children
From day one, one of the most intimidating things about parenthood for me has been how to teach my children sexual morality. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. As with every area of parenting, we think about the way we were raised—what worked, what didn’t—and we try to imitate and improve. Of course, what…
Read MoreHere And Now
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately…and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” -Henry David Thoreau There are times in life when every word I read seems to be a message from Heaven hammering home a single point. The last two weeks or so have…
Read MoreChanging the World, One Pixel at a Time
Image via Wikipedia For the last couple of days, everyone has been sounding off on the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Sheriff Clarence Dupnik blames the tenor of politics. Rush Limbaugh (of course) blames the Democrats—if not for the shooting, at least for daring to say that the tenor of political commentary such as his…
Read More
Kathleen M. Basi 