Daily Living Archives - Page 37 of 74 - Mothering in the Middle

Grace, Under Pressure: A Girl with Asperger’s and her Marathon Mom

by Sophie Walker

Those early days of training were excruciating and monotonous and humbling. I often felt overwhelmed as I fought to organize time to do it among work and the children and the daily chores. But it was also the best thing that had ever happened to me. I had a sense of purpose and achievement and a project to be proud of that was mine.

Then somewhere in the weeks around Christmas that changed. I stopped running and I stopped writing about it — by now my blog about life with Grace had attracted a decent number of regular readers. It would be easy to say that it was simply due to the busy time of year, but the break was less to do with the busyness of family activities — the tending to clamoring, hyped-up children that makes the Christmas holiday so particularly unrestful — and more to do with a sudden queasiness that descended whenever I contemplated either activity. […]

When He Naps

by Amy Wright Glenn

When he naps, I meditate.

I nurse him down to sleep. Milk and song mingle together and soon his breath moves into the rhythms of dreamland.

We breathe together as a calm, holy, wonder moves through the house. Toys are still. Dishes are done and the leaves outside dance in the wind. I stay home with this boy and offer my light to him. I know that this is sacred work. […]

Losses and Gifts in Midlife

by Lewis Richmond

Since the 2012 publication of my book Aging as a Spiritual Practice: A Contemplative Guide to Growing Older and Wiser, I have been leading workshops and working with groups to explore how to negotiate the path of aging in today’s complex and hyper-busy world. Among baby boomers one of the challenges is being caught in middle between two other generations: children and aging parents. If the children span the ages from young school-age to adult, two generations expand to three!

Recent studies show that 35% of young adults in their 20s still living with parents—with more still relying on their parents for financial and emotional support. In addition, our parents’ generation is living longer than any in history—into their 80s, 90s, and even beyond. […]

September with Mr. Mom

by Marc Parsont

I never met a sale I didn’t like. The Battle Cry of the Parsont Clan is, “It’s On Sale!” Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble could “Charge It,” all day because they’d be left flapping in my wake. And why, you ask, should you care?

I plan on buying enough school supplies for our kids—for the rest of their natural lives. One time, one trip, and we’re through. […]

A 40-Something Infertility Story

by Deborah Adrian

March 28^th, 2008, was a day that marked the culmination of a personal infertility journey.

It was not the day you might imagine – when I found out I was pregnant. Past experience had taught me that just a pregnancy test was not enough to be confident I would have a baby. This was the moment I saw the image of a small fetus with a solid heartbeat grace the screen of the ultrasound machine. This was a moment forged by three years of struggle to get pregnant both naturally and with medical intervention. A moment ultimately created out of a commitment and a declaration. […]

Q&A’s on Attachment Parenting with the Authors of ATTACHED AT THE HEART: Eight Proven Parenting Principles For Raising Connected And Compassionate Children

Q: What is Attachment Parenting (AP)?

A: Attachment parenting is based on the principles of attachment theory in developmental psychology. According to attachment theory, children are born with the intrinsic expectation of forming a strong emotional bond, secure attachment, with a primary caregiver during childhood.

Without secure attachment there can be lifelong negative consequences from poor behavior and failure in school to violence. Sensitive and emotionally available parenting helps a child to form a secure attachment which fosters a child’s emotional development and well-being. Principles of attachment parenting aim to increase development of a child’s secure attachment and decrease insecure attachment. In many ways it is the practical application of attachment theory. […]

Parents As Positive Role Models

by Phyllis Goldberg, Ph.D., and Rosemary Lichtman, Ph.D

Photo courtesy of beingnewton.com

Your children – whatever their ages – may or may not do as you say, but chances are they’ll do as you do. There’s no getting around it. You serve as a role model through your attitudes and behavior inside and outside the family. Just remember, someone impressionable is watching, listening and learning from your example.

Should you be flawless? Of course not. But show them your best self. You can use these practical tips as you teach your kids how to:

Solve problems. Children need to know how and why you make the choices that you do. They learn what you value every time you make the extra effort. Your decisions don’t only impact you, so talk to them when you consider your parents’ needs before your own, put money in their college fund, help out in the homeless shelter. […]

Happy Dance

by Maggie Lamond Simone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60Koe5FSE9M *

The big yellow bus will soon rumble once more down our street, signaling the end of summer and the beginning of another chapter in my life. My youngest is now in kindergarten. Big brother and little sister will stand together at the bus stop, he surreptitiously looking out for her, his fear for her safety and feelings only slightly stronger than his fear of being caught caring.

I think of all the emotions I should be feeling, emotions that any normal mother would be feeling at this momentous occasion in her children’s life: a deep sense of pride; hope for the future; nostalgia for baby days long gone; and maybe even a little fear about what lies in store for these innocent young people. I should be crying.

So why, then, will I be doing The Happy Dance in my driveway as the bus is pulling away? […]

The Fall of My Reflection (A Nod to Rosh Hashanah)

by Cyma Shapiro

(Stepping through that “time of life”) The nature and rhythm of my life has changed. What used to be simply firecrackers and passion, fast movement and hard-fast determination, has become a slightly mellower shade of honey, and flows at that very same pour-speed.

What used to be denial of things/time of life/aging has now become sobering, hard-core reality that we must savor each and every day, and that each and every day really is someone else’s last.

What used to be dreaming and planning for something (what?) has given way to acknowledging the present moment… and accepting it.

And, that all the determination and precise planning we give to everything simply cannot belie the fact that someone/something has greater power than we do.

This year, I will breathe in acceptance of the fact that I do not know it all; maybe do not know most of it; and that all of that knowing doesn’t mean that circumstances might not change it all – in an instant.

I know now that all I know is that I am alive and breathing and trying my best… each and every day.

The Yin and Yang of Motherhood

by Serena Kirby

I was 43 when I finally became a mother and I’d definitely been looking through rose coloured glasses in regards to how I thought motherhood would be. Don’t get me wrong, I love being a mom and I would lay down my life for my child. But there were times in the early days of mothering when I asked myself, “What the heck have I done?”

I know now that I’m not alone in this, as many older mothers I spoke to while researching my book expressed surprise at the contradictory emotions that come with being a mom. […]