Relationships
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Entering the World of Mom Bloggers at the Mom 2.0 Summit
This past weekend I attended the Mom 2.0 Summit at The Ritz Carlton in Laguna Niguel where hundreds of women bloggers were looking to connect with other women as well as with the sponsors and partners of the event such as Honda, Whirlpool, and Dove. It was pretty amazing to be in a room full of women (and a handful of men) who were so interested to learn some tricks of the trade about how to turn their hobbies or businesses into a more successful one. This was my first Mom Blogger event and I really didn’t know what to expect. Wow – was I impressed! From the quality of key-note speakers to the caliber of women in the…
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Giving Your Kids Your Rock Solid Support
We love them beyond measure. That’s a given. And no one handed us a “how to” guide or technical manual when they were born. So we tap into that unconditional love and do the best we can to raise our children to be confident, well-adjusted, and self-reliant. We do what we do so they can one day go forth to live with passion and meaning. There are many factors that will contribute to our desired outcome for our children. And some of them, we won’t be able to control. What we can do, however, is build a strong foundation of support and a mom-child relationship that fosters and encourages…
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Reflections :: Concerning the Topic of Love
On the Topic of Love: When I was approached to write for this site it was concerning the topic of love. Not romantic love. Rather, how to be loving. In a practical, real-life, day after day way. A standing in a non-moving line in the grocery store, getting cut-off on the freeway, or coming home to find out yet again that the internet is down kind-of-way. There is a fundamental ancient meditation practice from India known as Vipassana. It teaches a person to steadily witness from within this moment. A primary principle of Vipassana is a Sanskrit word, Anicha. Western translation of Anicha means changing. Anicha is taught as…
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Parenting :: Swimming the Tide of Autism
This spring marks two years since my son’s Asperger diagnosis. His younger sister has been professionally diagnosed with Asperger’s and nowhere near the spectrum. I am currently in the midst of a divorce with their father, who is a walking billboard for autistic characteristics but refuses my pleas to get evaluated. When April came celebrating Autism awareness, I felt I was already not only quite aware but drowning in a sea of autism. Somehow, I managed to swim the tides for two years unaware of many frequently vicious debates within the autism community. I naively put a blue bulb on our porch on April second, then read such frightening attacks…
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The Happiness Project
Hap-pi-ness n. 1.good fortune: prosperity 2.a state of well-being and contentment: joy 3.a pleasurable satisfaction While perusing through many big-box book sellers’ shelves, you are bound to come across a precipitous amount of self-help guides and list-it journals. You might find some on weight loss or dealing with spouses, but more so than not, you will definitely come across books regarding the most elusive and sought after human condition – happiness. To be honest with you, I haven’t really read many self-help guides in the past, but recently I came across Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project. In fact, I’m not sure I would personally classify it as self-help, rather…
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Family :: An Interview with My Grown-up Daughter
Instead of reading this mom’s memories and reflections on what it was like to raise my children, I thought you, dear readers, might be more interested in my grown up daughter’s perspective. So I worked up a few questions and sat down with my daughter Molly in what I told her was a “no holds barred” interview on growing up with me as her mom. To be honest, I knew she liked me so it wasn’t much of a risk, but I was surprised at her favorite memories (some seemingly insignificant moments), and what were the most important ways I helped her get through her tough middle school years.…
