I was picked up for gymnastics carpool and I jumped in the passenger’s side back seat to sit next to my friend. We were both wearing our leotards for class. I looked down at my bare legs on the seat and saw that my thighs spread – more than my friend’s. Horrified, I immediately put my toes to the floorboard and pushed enough to lift most of my legs off of the seat beneath me. I was in fifth grade, probably only 55 lbs and an athlete by any standard for my age (10).
I don’t remember when I adopted such a distorted view about myself. It’s just always been there. I come by it honestly enough, really. My mother...
Do not ask your children
to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable,
but it is a way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder
and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting
tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry
when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure
in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself.
-William Martin -
The time and place we are so fortunate to live in are truly extraordinary! Technological advancements alone would make the 19th century human cry witchcraft. The opulence of our lifestyle, even a middle class lifestyle, far surpasses that of the majority of the world. Our children stand to inherit...
Our society puts a lot of pressure and worth on physical appearance. How attractive we are to others can affect our success in life – our place among friends, all levels of schooling, mate selection, even our jobs. There is no getting around this societal norm – it has to be faced one way or the other, particularly for women and girls in my opinion. It’s likely something we have all encountered before, and for me it drives home in a major way when I think about my child and how physical appearance already affects her young life.
I have always been comfortable in my own bare skin even before I became a mom. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy going glam...
We all know it, we all hate it, the dreaded "Mommy Brain!" You know that crazy sense of chaos that makes moms feel like they are loosing control of everything in their lives.
We have all had days where "Mommy Brain" takes over and whether it's forgetting where you parked the car, dropping your kids off for school late (AGAIN), or forgetting to set the timer on the oven and burning dinner the mommy brain monster can make any bad day worse and make you feel pretty inadequate.
In my day job as a Speech Therapist, I work to aid patients who have experienced neurological injuries or illness to strengthen, re-develop and overcompensate for cognitive deficits. I provide my patients with...
If you see me in public with my children, the odds are pretty good that my daughter, Ellen will be wearing a princess dress. It'll be poofy and glittery and girly - and not at all what I would have chosen for her. But it's not my job to choose for her anymore (not ALL the time, anyway). I didn't get to that place without a pretty entertaining internal fight.
When I was pregnant with her, I made a big deal about decorating her room. I wanted it to be modern, but not too trendy. I wanted it to be beautiful but not girly and without reference to any established gender role. There was to be no pink, no frills....
Around Baton Rouge
Mardi Gras From the Perspective of a Krewe Dancer
Mardi Gras From the Perspective of a Krewe Dancer
It's that time of year we have been working towards all year long. Preparing three to...
