midlife mothering Archives - Page 5 of 8

Some Traditions Should Be Changed

by Maggie Lamond Simone

The holidays are upon us once again, the season of family, of gatherings, of traditions. The season, in most people’s lives, of hope.

Our tradition at Thanksgiving had been for many years to head to a lodge in the country with my mother’s family; aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces and nephews would converge and catch up and try to store up enough memories to last for the coming year. One year, however, a favorite aunt was no longer there, and the tradition gradually died with her. It simply wasn’t the same without her, and so things changed. […]

Adoption – Paying it Forward (A Comprehensive List of Resources) In Honor of Adoptive Mothers Everywhere

by Jane Samuel

It has been over nine years since we brought our youngest daughter into our home and I continue to be astonished by the layers that adoption has brought to our life as a family, my work as a mother – even to my own emotional being. […]

Menopause: Not Just For Moms Anymore!

by Maggie Lamond Simone

My son was upset the other night because he realized he’d only practiced piano a couple times throughout the week and his lesson was the next day. He was very hard on himself, and I said, “I’m sorry, honey. You’re only nine; mommy needs to remind you more often. That’s part of my job.” […]

How To Turn a Crisis Into a Challenge

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

When a crisis hits – the end of a marriage, the loss of a job, or the death of a loved one – it throws you into a complete tailspin. Suddenly your world is no longer safe and secure. What can you do to pick up the pieces and take the first steps toward living a full life again? […]

How It Ends Matters…

by Valerie Gillies

“There are no classes in life for beginners; right away you are always asked to deal with what is most difficult.” Rainer Marie Rilke

There’s an old video game called Prince of Persia. You progress from room to room, and need to choose, hidden among the clutter — shall I take the flashlight or the dagger? or maybe the rope? There is no way of knowing what will come next, what you will need. You just have to do your best, with no time to think, and keep on moving. […]

Living Longer, ‘Midlife Crisis’ Can Become ‘Midlife Opportunity’

by Maggie Lamond Simone

“What do you want to do with your life?” It’s a question I ask my college students this time of year to help them define their goals, and I’m beginning to realize the silliness of the question. It’s almost like asking people casually at the grocery store what they did over summer break — expecting them to sum up 10 weeks of their lives in a sentence. Not an easy task. […]

Naked Is As Naked Does

by Julie Donner Andersen

Every child-rearing book will tell you that children reach a point in their babyhood when being naked is preferred to wearing clothing. Child psychologists concur that this is a normal, healthy phase of development as children start exploring their birthday suits. […]

“Mothering in the Middle”

Jane Samuel

The title of this blog – Mothering in the Middle – comes at me in more ways than one.

It sums up my life because I am a mid-life mother. I am the mother who wears night sweats and ponders progesterone while also wearing the face paint my nine-year-old old recently painted over my fine lines. […]

Truth About Consequences: Letting Children Learn from Reality

by Linda Anderson Krech

“If we allow a child to experience the consequence of his acts, we provide an honest and real learning situation.” Rudolf Dreikurs, M.D.

There we were — my four year old daughter and I, along with her twin friends and their mom, waiting with antsy anticipation for the small-town extravaganza parade to begin in Vermont’s sweet little town of Bristol. We had arrived at the town green an hour early due to a misprint in the local newspaper calendar and had spent about 45 minutes swinging, sliding, and spinning around the gazebo and playground. Energy was high, spirits were even higher, and all was well until . . . my daughter began the look-at-what-a-brat-I-can-be performance. […]

The Oldest Kindergartener

by Andrea Lynn

Last week, I walked my daughter to her first day of kindergarten. We did all the typical first-day things, the new backpack, the special outfit, lots and lots of photos on our front steps, the Facebook share of that first-day-of-kindergarten moment in time. It joined my newsfeed of other first-day at school photos from friends – including the “first day at university” photo of a friend and his daughter, smiling from a lecture hall on a leafy campus. My friend is exactly my age – 40. And while I acknowledge I got started a little late on this whole parenting thing, it still boggles my mind that someone I went to high school with 22 years ago is driving his kid to a far-flung college campus while I walk my 4 year old down the street to kindergarten. Another friend touring university campuses with her daughter exclaimed: “How did this happen so fast?!” My reply as I prepared for kindergarten: “How did this happen so slow?” […]