Tales from a Mid-Lifer

  • Wordless Wednesday – Creek to Falls

  • Why We Struggle to Respect Others’ Parenting Health Care Decisions-Microchipping is One Reason

    Why do we struggle to respect the health care choices other parents make for their children? I think the answer is: because “their decisions” potentially affect our own children. Several years ago, one of my students gave a presentation arguing against the use of VeriChip, which are microchip implants placed…

  • About This Mama Duck…

    Well, first, the “duck” title is a metaphor for being the leader of my nest (a home on a few acres of land that is in need of updating but with three ducks in college, we’re keeping the outdated kitchen!).  The duck metaphor also represents the protector of the babies…

  • Trying to get the perfect photo of your moody teens? Graduation? Christmas?

    My twins who are the oldest of my three kids were entering the really annoying “teen stage” at about 13 years old. They were still very good kids, but one thing in particular became very difficult for about a year: taking family photos with happy faces! It was November and…

  • Getting Ahead or Enjoying the Moment?

    Recently, my daughter had her very first job interview.  After we decided on her outfit and printed a copy of her resume, I wondered if they’d offer a 401K plan.  Although utterly absurd, the thought really did cross my mind.  While I should have been enjoying the moment, I zeroed…

  • Enough

    The world tells me to just be me But then it says my shirt isn’t tight enough My skirt isn’t short enough My waist isn’t tiny enough.   Politicians tell me to vote with my head and my heart Then they claim I’m not pro-murder enough I’m not woman-enough Not…

  • Is It Fair That We are Judged by How We Look?

    This is a question that I have asked my college students over the years.  Inevitably, they will argue that it is absolutely “not fair!” and without my intervention, end up sharing countless examples of when they, themselves immediately judged by physical appearance.  Therefore, determining that while “unfair”, it is unequivocally,…

  • Wordless Wednesday – Sky Meets Water

  • The Difference in One Year THEN and The Difference in One Year NOW…

    The Difference in One Year THEN and The Difference in One Year NOW…

    Between birth and one year of age, my kids: Rolled over, crawled, pulled up and walked by 9 months Ate solid food Said all family names Eventually spoke in choppy sentences Followed book pages with their eyes and hands Always toddled toward Mama and Dada. Between 16 and 17 years of…

  • Wordless Wednesday – Sunset Trees

  • Stuff Mom’s don’t want to say out loud. Sometimes we do, but many times we don’t… :)

    Well, our pre-Mom lives certainly didn’t always look like the photo to the left, and our post-Mom lives certainly don’t always look like the photo to the right. But, wow, sometimes it does get crazy, right?! (Photo courtesy momtastic.com.) Stuff Moms sometimes say out loud, but more often, we don’t: Is…

  • Wordless Wednesday…With a Few Words