Adventures In Motherhood

I believe in the kindness of strangers. I'll admit my belief had been waning amidst angry city drivers and news stories as of late, but recently during the depths of frantic motherhood, my faith in humanity was renewed because I was open to the possibility. Sneaking in a yoga respite prior to the hectic after school schedule, I confidently walked home expecting to find my boys eating a snack at the kitchen counter after school, having arrived safely on their own. Mindfulness can be difficult, especially when my elementary school children are trusted with responsibility and my iPhone is in the shop. Hustling home, I found only my 5th grader devouring chips and managing his homework with the utmost pride. "Where's your brother?" I inquired. "He wasn't on the bus," my son explained, clearly enjoying some time alone in our typically chaotic house. Sheer panic ensued as it had been a full half-hour since school let out and needless to say, my mind was no lo...

I have always been in awe of Olympians who accomplish super human feats, beating out competitors in fractions of a second. I met some of my heroes as former director of administration for the U.S. Olympic Museum in Colorado Springs. Olympians who were seemingly normal individuals, giving back to their communities and leading non-profits, their stash of medals hidden away in shoeboxes. Last weekend, my daughter and I had the privilege of meeting Carolyn Wood, Olympic gold medalist in swimming and author of TOUGH GIRL: An Olympian's Journey . An 'inspirational opportunity of a lifetime' my daughter shared on Instagram afterwards. Carolyn Wood, Olympian, educator and author is a true heroine and her visit was 'An Olympic Gift' to my family. I credit my daughter with uniting Carolyn and our family, having discovered Carolyn's 'Tough Girl' memoir in her 9th grade English classroom. Proud she chose a book with such an intriguing title, I scanned the back...

Parenting is hard. It's both physically and mentally challenging, especially with toddlers. I had almost forgotten that if not for my Facebook feed which reminisced about photos from a decade ago while I cringed at the vulgarity of language in the news. Please excuse my French...my house was the epitome of a 'Shithole' back then. I'll be the first to admit it, a steaming cesspool in which we lived. Though not extremely funny at the time, the humorous recollection of a particular scenario was just what I needed this week! It was just over a decade ago that my brother and his wife were visiting our home in Colorado with their new ten-month-old baby in tow. My husband and I had three young children at the time, ages four years, two years and five-months-old. At that time, we affectionately referred to our children as the three W's, 'Whine, Why and Waaah'! The oldest daughter complained, the middle son had a question for everything, and the baby was my first c...

Shopping at the grocery store is the bane of my existence. Cleaning bathrooms comes in a close second, but hey, the children are old enough to assist with that now, and even bathrooms are an entrepreneurial endeavor in our house if you want to get paid! Groceries, however, are solely my responsibility as a mother if the children are to eat nutritious meals within our budget, and planning a stocked refrigerator and pantry are no easy task in a family of six with growing teenagers. Sure my husband and I shared the duties, once upon a time, as 'dinks' (double income no-kids) when life was all about us and dining out was frequent. I cannot help but smile at the freedom and excitement we savored in our youth... I quickly discovered, however, that sending him to the grocery store for more than a few items had diminishing returns with his sweet tooth and lack of savvy from the price of toilet paper to cheese. "No honey, Fruit Loops do not actually contain fruit," I explain...