Sometimes I wonder why parents are surprised when parenting is hard. The things I hear from other parents about what they found surprisingly challenging, well, surprise me. Haven’t they been around kids before? Doesn’t everybody know? Of course children are hard. Amazing but difficult. Because they aren’t adults. Wait, who am I kidding, adults are…
Author: JMartin-Weber
HG Awareness Day
It is with mixed feelings that I write for HG awareness day. On one hand, though it has more and more been acknowledged as a real disease that affects a good number of women (and their families) in recent years, it has a long long way to go to outgrow the common perception that it’s…
Beyond gritty turkey sandwiches
Our family went to the beach for Mother’s Day this past weekend. We were the reflective ones on the shore Sunday afternoon. The water was cool, the sand soft, and the play fun. It was beautiful and special but just as you would expect from a trip to the beach there was sand in some…
The negligent parent – failure is not an option
In parenting, failure is not an option. It’s a reality. “Shitshitshitshitshit” and “oh God, please” were the two thoughts that filled my head while I raced to the car. I don’t run often – certainly not often enough. But when I do, I am still capable of outrunning my kids, something I keep expecting to…
Couch date
Couch date. After getting kids settled, everyone is home from dance, and some cleaning up is done (by no means all of it) Jeremy and I settle down for some time just for us. A book, some wine, cherry tomatoes with fresh mozzarella balls and basil off our plant outside along with some roasted almonds…
Dance
“…like no one’s watching.” The only thing is, when I’ve tried, I am so deeply aware of the fact that I have no moves… ++++Awkward ++++Lame ++++Stupid ++++Uncreative and uncontrolled ++++Un-cool So I turn to humor. Because I’ve learned that I can continue “belonging” if I can make them laugh. ++++Self-deprecating? ++++++++++Maybe ++++++++Face-saving? ++++++++++++Yes. Well,…
Beyond Screen-free week: Screen time and our family
It’s screen-free week and as much as is possible, our family is participating by eliminating all non-essential screen time. Outside of screen time related to work, communication, and relationships, we are abstaining from sitting in front of screens from April 27th-May 5th. The immediate irony that in order to write this I must use a…
One Thing
I have this crazy idea. A crazy, wonderful idea. An impossible idea, really. But maybe not quite impossible. I think this crazy idea of mine might just be compelling enough to spark curiosity, bore into the very core of people, burn ember-bright and spread like wildfire. Or it may snuff out the second I strike…
Beyond bedtime- when the wrong choice is the right choice
I didn’t have the heart to call them in. Imaginations were running wild as the 5 sisters romped around our front yard fighting monsters and building castles. It was time for dinner but they were happily playing and our late snack of pretzels and almond butter held us over. Dusk stretched out and day light…
Beyond kids- Harriet, our family dog
I swore we weren’t going to have another dog until we were completely done with diapers. A different kind of pet, maybe. Though we never seemed to find one that felt “right” so we remained pet-free. Jeremy and I love dogs and the kids, particularly the 12 year old Storyteller, have been begging for a…