Minnesota Mom

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On Being One (Part I)

by Filed Under: Growing Up, Minnesota Me, New Baby 6 Comments

Hey! There’s a great big yard back there.You know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking I’m gonna just go on down and have some fun.I’m thinking I need to be down in that grass. I’m thinking I’m gonna walk down there. I’m gonna do it! I’m totally gonna walk down there!What? You don’t believe me?Fine. I’m letting go now.See? I did it. Now I just need to … [Read more...]

Stand and Be Counted

by Filed Under: Growing Up, Minnesota Me, New Baby 17 Comments

And just in time for his first birthday, too!(which is in one week from yesterday)What’s up with all that stuff in the background, I’m wondering? You’d think that, I don’t know, we were moving or something.We’re not, by the way.We just like to pretend that we are on the Internet. Oh and hey, I should probably come up with a pseudonym for “New Baby” … [Read more...]

My Tiny Dancer

by Filed Under: Felicity, Growing Up, Minnesota Me, Motherhood 7 Comments

Felicity's favorite day is Friday, because it is on Friday afternoon that she has dance class.She is the only one of our three girls who is taking dance class right now, not because we want to show preferences but because--of all the three--Felicity is the one who pined for lessons.Felicity's the one who begged for them.We first "tried on" dance … [Read more...]

The Beaten Track

by Filed Under: Growing Up, Hearth & Home, Minnesota Me, Motherhood 11 Comments

One never knows, at the break of day, what the next twelve hours will bring.Snow—and lots of it—is what this morning had in store for us. I stepped outside to get the paper and stepped right into the…Snow.Were it not for that red skirt, they might never have found me.Snow can be plenty cozy, though, especially when you're staying in. My oldest son … [Read more...]

The First Meet*

by Filed Under: Growing Up, Joe, Minnesota Me, Motherhood 15 Comments

The photo is blurry because the photographer was crying.And that’s what an emotional sap I’ve been.Where are you going, my little one, little one?Where are you going, my baby, my own?Turn around and you’re twoTurn around and you’re fourTurn around and you’re a young [boy]Going out the door.Nanci Griffith (“Turn Around”)How come no one told me that … [Read more...]

Refrigerator Wisdom

by Filed Under: Growing Up, Minnesota Me, Parenting Leave a Comment

Question: Why Do They Do the Things that They Do?Answer: Because They’re KidsI have a magnet on my fridge—several, actually—and I imagine you do, too. They come and go and get dinged up...Such is the humble lot of a refrigerator magnet.One of my magnets, though, I have hung onto for years. I like its message very much, and I think that you will, … [Read more...]

On Letting Go and Eating Little Schoolboys

by Filed Under: Growing Up, Joe, Minnesota Me, Motherhood, The New School 17 Comments

“Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb?” (Is 49:15) The following picture will tell you almost everything you need to know about my oldest child—easy-to-smile and easygoing, cheerful, helpful, outgoing, eager. He is a homeschooling mom’s dream child. And he left for school this morning. (If you … [Read more...]