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Faith in a Good Father
A little over a year ago, a few short days before Lucy was due, I received a phone call I will never forget. “I just lost my job,” my husband said into the phone. I felt my face and heart fall simultaneously. We knew the day was coming. Things were unsettled at his job, and though he had been there for ten years, he had been warned that things weren’t looking good. Still, when word came that they were eliminating his position, it still swept our feet out from under us does an unexpected, violent wave. Days before a baby’s arrival, that old companion Worry began to unpack his bags.…
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Baby Wearing – Why this Simple Tool Makes a World of Difference
It is the one essential baby item I couldn't do without. My husband calls it part of my "mom uniform." I call it a lifesaver. I honestly don't know I would have parented our babies without it. It's the baby carrier.
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The Important Role of Daddy
This weekend, Levi came down with a fever. It was a strange one; no other symptoms or complaints, just sore eyes, a bit of lethargy, and an elevated temperature. I don’t do great when my kids are sick. It’s a rare occurrence, thankfully, but when it does, I become an anxious mess of a parent, the kind that imagines and prepares for every possible scenario and has terrifying visions of febrile seizures and the like. So it was an amazing gift to me when Kevin stepped up and said, “I’ll take care of Levi. You take care of Lucy.” Kevin sacrificed his own sleep to hold Levi for most…
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Breastfeeding is Great; Breastfeeding On Demand is Even Better
Two days after Levi was born, I was in that strange place where sleep-deprivation, physical exhaustion, and blissful elation coincide. We had been home for about twenty-four hours, and we were adjusting fairly well to breastfeeding, but I was feeling unsure about how often and when to feed him. Scheduled Breastfeeding? When I was pregnant, I had been recommended a book that advocated for scheduled breastfeeding. It was important, the book argued, that the child adhered to the parents’ schedule and not the other way around. Having known very little about breastfeeding, I thought, sure, that sounds like a good plan — feed the baby every two or three hours…
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the best thing – a poem
Perhaps the best thing I can do today is to hold my baby close — to smile at him, to delight in him — to show him that today, he is safe and loved. The world is not safe, of course, but if, perhaps, he believes it is during these young years, if he eases into reality with a guiding, trustworthy hand, if he discovers it in pieces and not all at once, perhaps he won’t fear it as I do. 5/23/16
