Short-Winded Blog

Category: Parenting

  • I Am Still Here

    I Am Still Here

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    by

    Laura
    in ,

    It has been weighing on me that I have not been writing much lately. I have been unsure what I could possibly respectfully and sanely share during a weird, transitional sort of time in my life. But not writing does not do much for me either, so I am just kind of…writing. This change from…

  • The Spaces Between

    The Spaces Between

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    by

    Laura
    in ,

    Please bear with me. This is a sad post, and it is an attempt to process my grief a little. If you hate complaining, don’t read it. But this is the part I would not have chosen. The part where my kids are going to be gone half the time, all the time. It struck…

  • The Things She Carried

    The Things She Carried

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    by

    Laura
    in , ,

    I often ask my daughter to clean her room. Her response is often to cry, get overwhelmed, or get distracted. I will not get into how crazy this all drives me in this particular blog. While she is away for a few days, I think I will do us both a favor and just whirl…

  • Calculating My Weighted Parenting GPA

    Calculating My Weighted Parenting GPA

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    by

    Laura
    in ,

    There are times, as a parent, when I feel like I’m doing a good job, and I happily give myself an A. Child spills milk all over the table when I am about to finally sit down. “It’s OK. Here is a rag.” Mind says: You stayed calm. No big deal. Good. See, you are…

  • Laughing When Life Is Stinky

    Laughing When Life Is Stinky

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    by

    Laura
    in ,

    There are many unknowns in this life. It is reassuring that you can always make a seven year old crack up when you use “toilet” or “stinky” in Mad Libs. I learned several years ago that once you become a parent, you don’t get to grieve, not really. When my grandmother passed away, I wanted…

  • Nobody Has It All

    Nobody Has It All

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    by

    Laura
    in , ,

    I hear a lot about these alleged “mommy wars” in the media. Working mothers and stay-at-home mothers* are pitted against one another, and are made to seem like enemies decrying one another’s life choices.** We all know this is crap, right? I mean, sure, we all encounter individual people full of opinions about what we…

  • Perfect [Bleep] Storm

    Perfect [Bleep] Storm

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    by

    Laura
    in , ,

    I grew up camping. Many of my favorite early memories involve sleeping in tents by some lake or river somewhere, with my parents, two siblings, and dog (see Go Home Lassie, You Are Drunk). In my mind, these trips were relaxing, easy peasy, simple. We’d eat sandwiches in the dust and swim in the [insert…

  • Sweeter than I Expected

    Sweeter than I Expected

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    by

    Laura
    in , ,

    I think I was looking forward to the wrong things. When I found out Selah was going to be a girl, I was thrilled. I know, I’m a terrible feminist, but I couldn’t wait to dress her up in pretty clothes. It was going to be like having my very own living doll! People gave…

  • Working at Break-Tech Speed

    Working at Break-Tech Speed

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    by

    Laura
    in , ,

    We all know that technology can make life easier, but it can also make life horribly frustrating. Trying to navigate new updates, saving data, working around malfunctions for programs you depend on…it can all add up to a real digital headache. But for people who spend time around children, technology can also be a physical or financial…

  • Joy is Now

    Joy is Now

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    by

    Laura
    in ,

    Tomorrow is Asher’s birthday. He’ll be four. I had a moment the other day when I remembered his first birthday. On July 13, 2010, I woke up at the exact time he had been born, one year prior. I woke up so angry and sad. And I wrote about it. I used to blog on…