admin, Author at Mothering in the Middle

Is Infertility Awareness Week for Me, Too? (Infertility Awareness Week – 4/21 – 4/27/2013)

by Jenilyn Gilbert LCSW

The 28 year old woman who is told ‘adoption is your only option’; the mother who wants to add another child to her family but feels guilty that others don’t have their first child yet; the 42-year-old woman who questions whether the diagnosis of infertility even applies to her, are all women who belong to this club of wanting to be mothers, but within this reluctant membership, there are subcultures, divided by age and diagnosis. In an already isolating experience, is it healthy to divide ourselves further? […]

Musings…

by Josie Iselin

Decifer

What goes on in their heads?

What provokes the bouts of screaming, fits, reversions to babytalk,

sudden outbursts of loud and bizarre noises, and unwarranted crying?

I wish I could split them open like a squash

and be reassured by lovely smooth flesh,

not tangled seeds and muck.

www.JosieIselin.com

Make a Wish for Awareness of Women’s Sexual Health

Actually, do more than wish. Be active.

Sign this online WISH petition to add your voice to others advocating for greater attention to women’s sexual health needs. The WISH petition is sponsored by the International Society for the Study of Women’s Sexual Health (ISSWSH), which is a professional organization for those of us who work in the field of women’s sexual health.

The petition supports ISSWSH’s position that “female sexual disorders are valid conditions that warrant assessment, diagnosis and appropriate therapeutic intervention.” […]

Five Whole Foods to Help Banish Wrinkles

by Kris T. Smith

Who wants to look years younger than your actual age? Most of you do, admit it. It’s hard keeping up with all these magic creams, night serums and day serums. Besides, are they really good for your skin? And do they really work as well as the manufacturers advertise? If you read the labels on a lot of them, they are filled with harmful chemicals that you should be avoiding anyway. What you need to be doing is protecting your skin from the free radicals floating around in the environment and bombarding your skin.

What if there was a way to get rid of those pesky wrinkles naturally? If you increase your intake of foods filled with natural anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory agents, you will find you have better results. Would you be able to follow a diet like this? Here are five foods you can eat that will help banish those wrinkles and give you younger looking skin.

1. Blueberries

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says that blueberries are higher in anti-oxidant properties than strawberries by approximately 40 percent. Remember the anti-oxidants protect your skin from the free radicals from the environment that are constantly attacking your skin. They are also full of vitamin C, which encourages the growth and formation of collagen. Collagen renewal helps keep the skin looking younger and also decreases the effects of aging. […]

FDA Approves Drug For Sexual Pain

Ladies, we have one more tool in the belt.

Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a new drug to treat the vaginal and vulvar pain associated with loss of estrogen in older women.

That pain is called dyspareunia, and it’s caused by the changes in the vagina and genitals that occur when we lose estrogen during menopause. As we’ve said (often), our vaginal tissues become thin, dry, and fragile as our estrogen levels decline, which can make sex very uncomfortable. Dyspareunia is common, and it doesn’t get better on its own. […]

Birthday Parties with Special Needs…

by Julia Garstecki

Raising a child with a special need certainly has its ups and downs. An impending birthday party, either for your child or a peer, can be a roller coaster ride of emotions for both you and your child. With creative planning and realistic expectations, your child can be a part of the fun.

If you are hosting….

Let your child guide the planning. What does your child like? What are they able to do? If your child doesn’t like chaos on a daily basis, they certainly won’t have fun with a house full of kids amped up on cake and ice-cream! You can still decorate and get a cake, even if there are only a few guests to make it special. […]

Six Things Adoptive/Foster Families Need When New Children Arrive

by Lisa Qualls

This was the question,

What would have helped you the most in the early weeks and months of adding a child to your family through adoption or foster care? If somebody had asked you, “What can I do to help?” and you were able to answer anything at all with no shame, guilt, or concern about whether they really would want to do it, what would it have been?

This is what you answered:

Bring Food

Many of you stated that having meals delivered allowed more time to focus on all of your children, but also gave you some contact with “the outside world.” It does not have to be dinner, as somebody said, even bringing cut-up fruit would help. Someone else mentioned having dinner brought by friends who then shared the meal and spent the evening with them. One person wrote that when they adopted a baby, friends brought meals, but when they adopted an older child people assumed it wasn’t as demanding and didn’t bring meals. I think we can safely say that every adopting/foster family will be blessed by meals. […]

The Sweet Surrender of Sleep

by Jennifer Magnano

Sleep always seems to come most easily to those in great fatigue in every place and space of being. All of our “bodies” – physical, spiritual, emotional, mental – are finally depleted. It so appears that only at this very moment, when we have nothing left to give and are completely “fried,” that we just might be able to rest… and rest well. Yet, this often is not the case. Most nurturers don’t experience really great slumber. Restless or chronically overtired, it is with great uncertainty that we reach out to the blissful edge of sweet surrender. […]

My Worst Fears Have Come True…

by Marc Parsont

I have become…a soccer mom.

Car pools to ballet, soccer, art class, camps, play dates, school(s), and it’s just beginning. It’s going to get worse.

It was o.k. being the vacation pack mule. I have qualifications for lifting car seats, backpacks and 20 suitcases for an overnight trip. I’m male and I’m breathing. […]

Cyma Shapiro Interviews Erika Athanas, Co-Founder of 4GOOD

Dear Reader: I was SO impressed by this group and its founder that I requested an interview. Please read more about their 4/7/13 Los Angeles-area event.

In 2009, having organized the purchase of school supplies for her then 4 and 10-year-old children and posting the event on facebook, Erika, then 39 years old, immediately recognized the innate power of combining cooperation, community and social media. Together with friend Katie Goldman, she decided to put that philosophy to work. Within a few short months, Erika and Katie co-founded 4Good, now a nonprofit designed to match families with organizations in need.

Mindful of creating the right message, Erika sought causes and venues which would be appropriate for both children and their parents. Today, 4Good helps nearly 30 organizations in and around Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley; and can boast a following of nearly 3000 people encompassing nearly 250 individuals who regularly work with them. In 2011, the Athanas Family won the Scholastic Parent & Child Family of the Year Contest. Their celebrity ambassadors are William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman.

Q: Good Day, Erika! I’m so pleased to interview you – I was most impressed with the work you’ve done in just three very short years. Please tell me a little more about what you originally set out to accomplish. What personal experience did you bring to the table to foster this organization?

A: Honestly, I had no experience. I was just a mom who wanted to expose her kids to giving back. I wanted to make sure I was actively showing my children that one’s […]

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