Mama, You Lied???
Posted: July 12, 2013 Filed under: advocacy, Down syndrome, parenting, personal growth, Uncategorized | Tags: development, Down syndrome, Lies, Milestones, Parenting, travel, Trisomy 21 22 CommentsI lied about my son today.
We took the Taters cross-country to see Latke’s parents this week. We had a great time, the kids got spoiled, all was well.
On our return flight, I sat by myself with LP, while Latke had the girls across the aisle.
As I sat down, the man by the window smiled and reached out for LP’s hand. I have to admit every time a stranger takes an interest in LP I still have a moment of trepidation. I don’t blurt anything out anymore, but I still hold my breath for a second, waiting for that whiff of scrutiny. Read the rest of this entry »
Heat
Posted: June 28, 2013 Filed under: kids | Tags: Motherhood, Parenting, summer 5 CommentsIt is hot.
Sweat-snaking-down-your-body-like-the-Amazon-through-the-sweltering-South-American-jungle kind of hot.
I sit in our backyard and the dark flagstone patio sends up a shimmery curtain of heat. The girls are running through the sprinklers in their swimsuits, their small bodies whirling in the water, just so. LP is blowing spit bubbles and smiles when his sisters comes close. It’s pretty damn good.
When the weather gets hot, I think of what grows. Peaches, berries, corn. Sunflowers. The days get light, the earth produces its abundance, Mother Earth’s metabolism kicks up. At the same time, I think of preservation—canning all that life, heat, abundance for some future moment.
I look at my three children in the shimmer and sparkle of today, and I want to preserve this as well. All three breathtaking bodies, laughing, yelling, moving in the heat. In a decade, or two, when I open this preserved moment, I hope it is all still here, burning bright.
Happy Friday. Go make a memory. xox
Happy Father’s Day
Posted: June 16, 2013 Filed under: emotional stuff, kids, parenting, the husband | Tags: Father's Day, fatherhood, Love, Marriage, Parenting 8 CommentsDear Husband,
In a way, I feel like there was no time in my life when I didn’t know you.
You remember that? That was the first line of my wedding vows.
I’m not sure if I ever told you this, but I sorta kinda maybe decided I wanted you the second time I really noticed you. The first time, you were still encumbered by that unfortunate ponytail and I thought you were a little full of yourself. Sorry. But that second time? That was the time. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that you should be mine. That first night we hung out, smoking cigarettes on my dorm room floor, it seemed like I’d known you all along.
That feeling came and went over the years, I’ll admit. While we were roaming the globe and dating other people, that feeling sat in the back row. Patient, waiting. Still, no matter how long it had been, or what had passed, seeing you was like coming home. I don’t know how many times I circled around you in those years. Leaving, coming, leaving again. No matter where I thought I was going, my flight path traced the same repeating orbit, back to you.
And now we have children. Beautiful, wise children who are flying away further and further every day.
I see the way you teach them honestly and never hide their world from them.
I see that you treat them as equal spiritual partners.
I see how their little bodies fly to yours when you walk through the door.
I see the ray of joy and the shadow of pain on your face, every time our children sheds a new skin and emerges a little older, different.
I see that you’re secretly checking behind bushes for kidnappers and scanning the sky for lightning that may strike your babies (even though there’s no storm).
I see you don’t turn away from poor behavior or unkind words, and show it to them each time, so they can learn.
I see your unconditional acceptance of who they are.
I see the father I always wanted for my children.
So here we are, the five of us. Flying, landing, flying again, around and around, spiraling higher and higher. Now, each time I look at one of you, it feels like home. There was never a time in my life when I didn’t know you.
Happy Father’s Day.
All My Love,
Your Wife
Look at what we made, baby.
Kimchi Latkes 