by Karen Hug-Nagy
Well, I’m ten years into this midlife mothering experience, and at 55, I’m still learning how to become a Mom. I begged the fertility gods for one child and I hit the jackpot, twins! I thought the infertility rollercoaster was complicated. Parenting two is more like trying to keep up with mini-rockets on a mission. […]
by Cyma Shapiro
My children off to bed, I’m here, like so many of you, able to enter the (world of the) Internet and do some “research.” Follow my journey.
We will soon welcome, Dear Reader, the work of Karen Hug-Nagy, whose posts will appear shortly on our site. While researching her work, I stumbled on Jen Singer’s http://www.Mommasaid.net. She welcomes her viewers by saying, “Welcome to Mommablog, my blog about a mom’s life, just like yours.” A click on her Guest Post link immediately led me to Meagan Francis, author of the new book “The Happiest Mom” and the blog site of the same name: http://thehappiestmom.com – a site I visited for quite a while, trying to see if the moniker fit (me).
California’s risky trend: an over-40 baby boom
As one measure triples, experts warn of dangers for mother and babies.
One woman was on her second career and married to a man who already had children. She was certain she didn’t want a child of her own. Then she hit 45, and suddenly having a baby was the only thing that mattered. […]
by Julie Donner Andersen
My mom was a clown. Literally. At least she started out that way. She and her partner, Beverly, had an act called “Bobo and Dodo.” They entertained at children’s parties and marched in parades. A few years later, they became rag dolls called “Patches & Pockets” and were offered a TV show at WTOL-TV in Toledo, Ohio. Their show ran for 18 years in northwest Ohio and parts of Indiana and Michigan, and even won a local Emmy Award. […]
by Cyma Shapiro
Halle Berry, Sarah Palin, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nicole Kidman, Selma Hayek, Julia Roberts, Lisa Hartman Black, Sheryl Crow, Jane Seymour, Helen Hunt, Courtney Cox Arquette, Mariah Carey, Meryl Streep, Brooke Shields, Madonna, Susan Sarandon, Annette Benning, Holly Hunter, Cheryl Tiegs, Jane Kaczmarek, Mimi Rogers, Nancy Grace, Marcia Cross, Naomi Watts, Iman, Helen Hunt
![Salma Hayek "When Valentina was not even 1 month old, my aunt [gave me the best advice]: 'Put her to sleep yourself every night. Sing to her and cradle her in your arms and sit by her side - every night. Because one day you won't be able to, and it's going to happen really fast." Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: Hottest Celebrity Moms Over 40 KMazur/WireImage](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/g/a/2011/05/31/hearstmagfamily5288466.DTL&object=%2Fg%2Fpictures%2F2011%2F05%2F31%2Fhearstmagfamily5288466-Salma-Hayek-Layers-fb-7438711.jpg "Salma Hayek \"When Valentina was not even 1 month old, my aunt [gave me the best advice]: 'Put her to sleep yourself every night. Sing to her and cradle her in your arms and sit by her side - every night. Because one day you won't be able to, and it's going to happen really fast.\" Reprinted with Permission of Hearst Communications, Inc. Originally Published: Hottest Celebrity Moms Over 40 KMazur/WireImage")
by Andrea Lynn
It finally happened. Claire, 3, got the daddy question. As in, “Why don’t you have a daddy?” Though, to be completely accurate, the 4-year-old friend who was over for a playdate phrased it less aggressively, as: “I have a mommy and a daddy.” Pause. Wait for response. I was in the kitchen with my daughter and her curious friend, who we know quite well. Without appearing interested in their conversation, I was waiting for Claire’s response as well. And it was a good one. “I have a mommy,” she said, quite simply. The friend tried again. “I have both. You don’t have a daddy.” Claire thought about this. “I have a sister,” she replied. Score! A perfect response. I was so proud. […]
by Leah Hardy
Almost ten years ago, I wrote a rather smug article for a glossy magazine extolling the virtues of late motherhood. At the age of 38 I’d just had my first child, and I waxed lyrical about how I felt it was the perfect age to embark upon motherhood. […]
by Valerie Gillies
“No one ever told me that grief felt so much like fear.” C.S. Lewis
Last week, on a day when I paid my bills, went to the dentist, and did exactly 4 loads of laundry, I got a phone call that let me know a close relative had advanced ovarian cancer. I slept fitfully that night, woke to a beautiful day, made some strawberry rhubarb jam, met with clients, did paperwork, ran errands, and somewhere in the flurry of the day and evening a text came through on my phone. One of my daughter’s classmates, an endearing 9 year old with a huge smile–aneurism, stroke, coma. This morning, she was gone. […]
by Suzanne Braun Levine
One thing about being an older mother is that you are constantly reminded of the truism that age doesn’t really describe the shape of a person’s life. Nor does our place on the family tree, the generation we are assigned to at birth. When my daughter was born I was 44, old enough to be her grandmother. When she went to school, I was old enough to be her teachers’ (and her friends parents’) mother. At the same time my contemporaries had long since forgotten about coping with babies and young children – they were on to the joys of grandchildren. My most meaningful cohort was other women with children my children’s age, but not my age themselves. […]
by Cyma Shapiro
I think the dilemma started when my Physician’s Assistant (PA) of ten years left my MD’s office last month for another medical practice. Within a flash, all my years of personal coddling, instant communication (I was given her “inside” phone number) and very good health care were eradicated for this: I am now just another number, another cog in the wheel/larger scheme of things. Right now, I feel very, very unimportant. […]
