No one prepared me for this: The end of my baby’s babyhood

He’s out in the sandbox, sunlight falling across his cheeks, and I am at the table writing. Through the window I watch him wipe his eye; watch as he rubs sand into his forever long eyelashes. He rubs it again, this time like I have taught him-—not with his sandy fingers, but with the sleeve [...]

On motherhood and messes, creative process and apple pie:

Today there is rain and the final splendor of leaves the color of the summer sun, sumacs flutter with fronds of flame, the poplars are already bare. There is wood for stacking, bulbs to be put into the damp, still-soft ground, and the last of autumn’s apples for picking: small and hard, with thick skins [...]

Surviving Summer: An In-Progress List Of Little-Boy Awesomeness

In the process of perfecting the art of moon walking, I’m also becoming increasingly adept at wrangling and loving and wrestling little boys. I’m starting to understand that this is a part of my art. This almost-balance, this in-motion gesture of my life towards and away from them in the very same instant. This push-pull, [...]

These are some moments: full velocity, full of mess, full of grace

It’s been a wild tumble of spring-turning-into-summer around here. I’m in the thick of a full, full summer semester. The deadline for my manuscript is looming in early fall. Everything is converging in a miraculous, glorious mess. There isn’t enough time. I’m exploding with ideas. The Kickstarter rewards are still waiting for finishing touches that [...]

Being Six: or how we’re all learning to focus on the positives

We decided to start using a marble jar a few weeks ago after a series of ruckus days where everything seemed to be “No!” and “Stop!” and “Don’t do that!” Both T and I were exhausted by the constant reprimanding and redirection, and both of us agreed we needed to do a better job of [...]