Philanthropy and Family

Philanthropy and Family

Whether you have ten dollars or $100,000 to give away, involving children in philanthropic giving helps connect them to the world, their own values, and the power of generosity. My husband and I have always wanted our family to have a strong philanthropic focus. We want our kids to be involved in deciding which causes…

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Behind the Curtain…Recording My Audiobook

Recording Audiobook

This blog is for those of you interested in the deeper truth and more personal sharing about my experience recording the audio version of my book. If that interests you, keep reading. I’m at the airport in Denver about to catch my flight home from an intense five days in Colorado. I came to record…

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My Baby is 5 Months • Postpartum Body Poem #6

Postpartum Body Poem #6 My little baby girl is 5 months today. Incredible. Everything about having a baby. Receiving the light My pupils delicate, bright The sun, the one, everything has come undone …for the better My breast, plump, and young when filled with nectar for my little one Stretched and pulled awry once she…

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“These are my bones. They are misplaced.”

“THIS IS MY BODY” • POEMS BY POSTPARTUM MOTHERS • #5″ These are my bones. They are misplaced. They’ve shifted. Or they’re missing. They creak as I stand. They hobble as I take my first steps. I’ve become old and unstable, calcium wringing out from my femur and into my breastmilk. Take take take. This…

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“THIS IS MY BODY” • POEMS BY POSTPARTUM MOTHERS • #3

These are my breasts. They swell and empty like creatures of the tidal pools, except this is the freak show circus of the sea mirrored back to me. For the colors and patterns of my breasts would be garishly yellow and red and polka-dotted. Their bulge is an ideal mast for the moumou, for a…

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“THIS IS MY BODY” • POEMS BY POSTPARTUM MOTHERS • #1

This is my hair, my sword and shield, sickle and wheat. Now reborn a lifeline, rope swing, a kite string that tethers tiny hands to a grounded ship. A lighting rod in the sand, an anchor. These are my shoulders, boulders and landslide alike, knotted with the ropey lines of the Future, missteps, catastrophe, death,…

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My Year in the Cocoon: Birth as a Teacher for Healing

Today marks one year since my skiing accident when I blew out my ACL, tore my MCL and strained my LCL. Of the soft tissue in my knee, only my meniscus was left relatively unscathed. I’ve had many people ask me if my knee is all “back to normal.” This is a difficult question as…

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“Enjoy every minute as they grow up fast.”

  How did they grow up so fast? How did they get so old? Parents of older kids often give the same advice to new parents: “Enjoy every minute as they grow up fast.” Our boys are now 17 and 15. One is applying to college and the other recently earned his black belt in…

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How Old is the Parent?

How old is your baby? Musings on new parenthood

New parents are often asked, “How old is your baby? It’s a sweetly intentioned question and one we can usually answer easily (depending on our current level of sleep deprivation!). An equally pertinent question is, “How old is the parent?” For some reason, we think that upon the arrival of our child, we somehow become fully-formed…

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Holiday Treasures and a Family-Infused New Year!

Part of our New Year’s Eve involved packing up the holiday treasures and decorations. As we only had a very small artificial tree this year due to location, I had to be highly selective about which decorations I used. I didn’t go for fancy or beautiful or the most expensive, I chose the photo ornaments…

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