Perspectives in Parenting

What keeps me grounded when work becomes too much? My babies. My 3-year-old twins and my 5-year-old boy always reach for me to be held. I’m reaching for them as well. How did I ever do life without you? I’ve always been adventurous, brave, and a self-sufficient person. As an only child, I created my own fun. How I was as a child correlated to my adulthood. My career and relationships along the way have taught me a lot of character and life lessons, but my babies are teaching me things I never knew I needed. Patience… I take after my dad’s demeanor. He loves big but is impatient. I hate waiting and my anxiety makes me want everything to happen immediately. My...

Confessions of a Science Loving Mama A little background for you - I have always been good in school. I have always been especially good in science. It just made sense to me. All my other girl friends loved English and Art. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I got good grades in those subjects, but I can’t tell you the difference between and adverb and a preposition if my life depended on it. (That will probably be obvious as you read through this essay so don’t come for me too hard). In high school, my science classes were mostly me and a bunch of boys. When I got to college, nothing about that really changed much. I guess it was...

At home, on any random day, you’ll find me and my two boys running around the house as superheroes. It’s always the best. We even have our own hero soundtrack. Most of the time we do random karate moves, preparing to save the Earth from “bad” guys. It’s great exercise. But when my joint “pops,” Jack likes to tell me I need more oil. It’s great emotional exercise as well. My heart always fills with joy. I think it’s important that we remember and hold tight to the principles of superheroes. There’s so much to be admired about them. Superheroes are the epitome of integrity. They’re honest. Superheroes aren’t perfect. A lot of their scenarios start with a hero making a...

Dear Mom, You have worn so many different hats throughout my life. From teacher to cheerleader. From personal chef to magic boo-boo healer. As I’ve gotten older you have turned into my most trusted confidant and go-to advisor. Throughout my life, you have played a role that no one else can quite fill. Even as a grown adult, with my own children and family, I still need you. I will always need my mom in some way. No matter how old I am, I will always call her for assistance with keeping my many plates spinning. I can always count on her My mom will always be a safe place. She is the one person I can count on to be there, on...

Family is complicated. Family is where you are from. It is your DNA. It is your childhood memories. It is the people you are obligated to until the end of time. It is also not the people you choose. Family is assigned, not selected. In a fairytale world, your family is the people you have the most in common with. The people who (act like they) love you the most. Family has your back and works hard to resolve conflicts that inevitably arise. But on planet Earth, family is a loaded term that can mean all of the things. Good, bad, tough, loving, inconsistent, loyal, cruel, absent, dramatic, neglectful, supportive, aloof, stable, frustrating, infuriating, benign- in reality, the list is even longer. Especially if...