Tag: Parenting
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The Coming and Going During the College Years
Nearly three months ago, I walked through the brisk November air into the sliding glass doors of the airport, traveled up the escalator and stood outside security, waiting for my youngest to get off the plane. It was two days before Thanksgiving and my hands had not been on my…
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When Your Kids Near Marrying Age
I don’t recall where I picked up the idea, but for several years I’ve been drying the petals of flowers my girls (or myself) have received so they can be used on their wedding day. It was a fun activity with a “someday” thought attached to it. Now, it’s a…
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Like Moses, My Arms Got Tired
Exodus 17 11-13 As long as Moses held up his hands, Israel prevailed; but when he lowered them, Amalek prevailed. When Moses’ hands grew heavy, they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. Then Aaron and Hur held his hands up, one on each…
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Save the Journals or Burn Them…?
Although New Year’s Day is often a day to toss out the “old”, the January 1st purging of my home office was not planned. I just happened to smell a fire brewing outside and discovered my husband burning some Christmas wrap and nonsense snail mail. I was sitting in…
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Our Many Characteristics
My youngest called from college, distressed about boy #1 talking to boy #2 on her behalf. She did not approve. She believes that any young man worth dating in the future would need to personally get to know her – through her. The conversation progressed into fully analyzing the words…
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We are Parenting PIONEERS
“We” would be those of us who were the very first average citizens to log on to the new thing called aol.com back in the late 1990s on our clunky PCs. “We” are largely in our late 40s and early 50s with teenagers or young adult children. “We” are those…
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Unlike Most People, I’m Glad It’s Monday
It’s seven weeks into the semester and I’m profoundly feeling the effects of the empty-nest. The weekends are the worst, especially Sunday evenings. Some Moms get through this easier than others, but I’m struggling. Saturdays were always slow mornings, since we went to church on Sundays. Breakfast, hanging out in…
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Assuming Her Life Must Be Easy, But Really, It’s Not
One of my friends (we’ll call her Hannah) has been slightly overweight all of her adult life. We never discussed it much as she never felt hindered by it, nor expressed desire to change it. Then, unexpectedly one day Hannah admitted to me that she had admired one woman in…
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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…
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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…
Tales from a Mid-Lifer 