2014 - Page 3 of 16 - Forever In Mom Genes

What Is The Time Limit On Grief?

Nov 06 2014

The minute you think you’ve come to terms with loss, grief comes back—quietly sneaking up on you as a fleeting pang, or slamming into you like a visceral punch that forces the breath from your lungs, making you gasp amid sobs. My friend Heather said the other day in reference to the loss of her son that, “Grief has no time limit.” She and her family have been through it. They’re still going through it. They will always be in it to some degree. There may indeed be five stages of grief, but there’s definitely no fixed schedule or order to them. My husband’s mom passed away last February. She was more a friend than a mother in law and the close bond she shared with my children was uncommon, I think. My son was ten when she died. She wasn’t sick—her death was unexpected and a shock for everyone. Of course my boy was devastated when she died, but after a month or so, the cloud lifted for him and he claimed he had made peace with it and that he was okay. He later admitted he felt guilty for not crying anymore. “We all grieve in our own[…]

Nov 03 2014

I know it’s horribly unhealthy, but some days I skip lunch. This probably explains why I voraciously attack any uneaten scraps from my kids’ lunch boxes at the end of the day. The fact is, as a time-challenged WAHM, the clock ticks so fast that I can’t always stop to make a healthy lunch. And when I don’t… a) I’m slumped over my desk by 2:30 pm listless and useless. b) I’m tired, grumpy and stupid by 2:36 pm. c) I’m stuffing my face with cheese and crackers by 2:59 pm. d) I’ve ingested the equivalent of a meal for two while making dinner. e) All of the above. So what’s a busy WAHM to do? Other than find a Sugar Daddy so you don’t have to work at all and can spend your days lunching with the ladies at the country club. Or, you can try these tricks: Dish out a lunch sized portion of whatever you’ve made for dinner and refrigerate to eat for lunch that week. All you have to do is heat and eat. Fast and easy, just the way we WAHMS like it. Make and take a smoothie to go. Sip while you walk[…]

Oct 30 2014

Whether we’re talking about kids with special needs or little ones who haven’t quite yet mastered the skill of brushing, flossing and… SWISHING (that’s a tough one), dental care is a skill that needs to be taught. Cavities WILL happen if we’re not vigilant in our fight against the “Plague Monster!” I prefer, “Sugar Bug” but Plaque Monster seems appropriate this month. October is Dental Health Awareness Month AND Halloween. Coincidence?? I’m on dental hygiene with my kids like braces on a tween, like taffy on braces, like Chapstick on winter lips, like white sludge on your tongue after a night of drinking….you get the idea. I’m on it. NOT because I’m winning at parenting or anything. I’m hyper hygiene aware, dentally speaking, because I have to be. If Avery requires any kind of dental work, she needs to be put under. Like, fully sedated in a hospital and obviously, that scares the crap out of me. She won’t stay still long enough for the dentist to do his thing, and due to a breathing issue, she can’t be quieted with gas so… ….when the dentist tells me they’ve found a cavity, I need to be quieted with gas. Saying goodbye to your child as she’s[…]

This New Form Of YOGA Is Sure To Catch On

Oct 22 2014

I love yoga. Or more accurately, the idea of yoga. Not to mention the sinewy limbs that come from actually practicing yoga instead of sitting on your ever widening ass watching You Tube videos about yoga while eating crackers slathered in 115 mls of apple butter. If this yoga class comes to a studio near me, I’m so signing up. HILARIOUSLY calming. Who’s with me?

Oct 21 2014

You can barely hear them. She can’t hear them at all, and I like it that way. They’re soft and intermittent and I can almost always ignore them. Sometimes I can even silence them with a look or an explanation or sometimes with just a tiny shot of snark. Mostly they’re the whispers of strangers and who cares what they think? She doesn’t notice them and even if she did, she wouldn’t understand them. If she did, she’d probably just smile and reach out her hand because she’s gentle and kind and forgiving like that. Sometimes I also want to reach out my hand. But in a more, “come over here so I can slap your head” kind of way. Though my daughter has many friends, last year she made a new friend and this relationship was special. This little girl had just moved to Canada with her father while her mother remained overseas. Her new friend came over to our house often to play and attend parties and she called Avery on the phone. How excited my little girl was to have the phone ring—for her. Between Avery’s delayed speech and her friend’s broken English, it was the[…]

Archive - 2014

What Is The Time Limit On Grief?

Eat Your Lunch!—and Other WAHM Wisdoms

Protecting The Pearlies—Dental Care For Kids

This New Form Of YOGA Is Sure To Catch On

Whispers Behind Her Back