admin, Author at Mothering in the Middle

“Don’t Whisper, Don’t Lie – It’s Not a Secret Anymore”

by Adam Pertman

My son was three years old and my daughter had lived on this Earth for just two months when I met Sheila Hansen. She’s a tall, soft-spoken woman who laughs easily and exudes warmth when she speaks; she has the kind of comfortable self-confidence that immediately makes you think she’d make a loyal friend and a good mother. On that muggy July day, sitting in the conference room of a church in southern New Jersey, she told me a story that chilled me to the bone and forever altered the way I think about my adopted children, about birth parents, and about the country in which I grew up. […]

Doubt is Doubt – Even to us Babies (The “what-if’s” of an under-40 mother)

by Heather Griffiths

At the age of 30 I had my son; my daughter at 32. YES, Yes… I know – I’m a baby by most of your standards at the not so “tender” age of 35, and not officially a midlife mother. You see, by my family’s track record, my two older sisters were working on kids # 2 and 3 respectively by the time they were 25, so for me I thought waiting until I was 30 was waiting. Looking back now I see that I naively thought I had everything together. But, I am still racked with self doubt and the simple question of “What if” and the not so simple answers it often conjures. […]

Ripe

by Valerie Gillies

Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity; but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance. What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach the far horizon? Hal Borland

Here I am, sitting at the computer trying to write something coherent, while inches away my thirteen year old is melting down at the prospect of the first day of school tomorrow. The ostensible issues: backpack size and choice of clothing for the morning. (Truth: nervous beyond belief.) Another, down the hall, is supposed to be packing for a year abroad, but has abandoned a room that could land me with a health code violation, in order to help her friend pack up for school. And, in the room vacated by my eldest daughter are the beginnings of a wedding gown that I should be working on. […]

Yoga: A Boon for the Midlife Mother

by Patricia Gottlieb Shapiro

The first time I did yoga, I was 49 years old – not a midlife mother, but clearly mid-life. I walked into a small studio bathed in white. Something about the atmosphere made me feel relaxed and calm—even before I did any postures. It was a difficult time in my life. I needed peace and a respite from a set of family problems. I walked in feeling uptight and edgy; I walked out after class in another place. I knew the problems were still there but they felt more distant and I was less emotional about them. […]

Quote of the Year

“You owe me.” (Said by my eight year old daughter).

Honoring My Labor Days

by Jane Samuel

As my children can attest, I am not much of a TV person. I think it siphons away needed brain cells and deprives our lives of valuable time. Nonetheless, when tethered to the elliptical for my workouts I am known to watch a little and one show that I often surf to is TLC’s A Baby Story. I find myself nervously pacing (well, sort of ellipticaling) beside the anxious dads, beaming eagerly with the expectant grandparents or panting and pushing along with the moms. […]

10 Rules for Brilliant Women

by Tara Sophia Mohr

I coach brilliant women, lots of them. Dedicated, talented, brilliant women.

Most of the time, they don’t know their brilliance. They are certain they “aren’t ready” to take on that next bigger role. They are more attuned to the ways they aren’t qualified than to the ways that they are. They are waiting for someone to validate, promote or discover them. Sound familiar? […]

Quote of the Year

“All your kisses sink into my body and go straight to my heart.” (From my six year old son)

Could This Be A Midlife Crisis?

by Karen Hug-Nagy

I think my current mindset has all the markings of a midlife mothering crisis. It’s difficult to describe just what a midlife crisis feels like. Lately I’ve heard it termed a midlife transition, which sounds less frightening to me. I think I’m currently stuck in one of those transitions. My 10 year old twins are in fifth grade, so that means I gave birth to them at age 45, and if I do the math right, that would put me at about age, 55! […]

What If…

by Cyma Shapiro

Until yesterday, I would swear to it that I was past all the “What If’s.” That is, the nagging, endless questions that plagued me for the last few decades. Here are a few: […]

About admin