Letter to my children: The Green Glass Doors

Letter to my children: The Green Glass Doors

Dearest Beloveds,

The latest craze in the house is playing the Green Glass Doors. What started out as a riddle to stymie us all has turned into a spelling game that travels with us everywhere.

Bean, you brought the game home from Flying Deer. We were sitting at the dinner table.

“Okay, here is a new game. Tell me the rule for how this works. I can go through the green glass doors. And so can you Momma. But Dragon cannot.”

Read More

Letter to my children: What if sex was rest?

Letter to my children: What if sex was rest?

Dearest Beloveds,

The first year of our WiseBodies “Sex Ed for Adults” is coming to a close. A class filled with tears and laughter and learning. Aside from rocking my world by teaching me the history of the speculum, this class is also slowly, steadily, unraveling much of what I understood “sex” to be.

I am so glad I am learning this now - before you two hit puberty.

I wish I could say, I am learning this before you two are exposed to our culture’s myopic, juvenile, reductive idea of “sex” but that is not true.

Read More

Letter to my children: Flush out your emotions now

Letter to my children: Flush out your emotions now

“Okay, you are almost done with your corrections for your quiz. Please write out ostrich 5 times.”

Bean sat, stone faced, arms crossed, body rigid, brow furrowed.

Gosh, darn it, I was hoping to squeeze one more quiz in - but this is her 36th quiz this year.

“Dearest, this is the last spelling quiz of your 3rd grade year. Just five more words. You can do it.”

Derision slide across her continence.

Read More

Homeschool Learnings: Brain Coherence and the Rock Cycle

Homeschool Learnings: Brain Coherence and the Rock Cycle

“No wait Momma, we need to get our names back before we start!”

“Oh right, what is your name again?”

“Umbrella, unicorn, lemonade.” Bean started laughing. “You Momma, you are Sailed Muppet Icicle.”

“Okay Umbrella, let’s see if we can get your name back.”

“Super fast.”

“Okay, super fast.”

In chorus, both of our hands clapping and slapping we started. “Avocado Avocado is the name of the game, if you mess up once you change your name! A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H…”

Read More

Letter to my children: Being in the Middle, Middle-Aged, or Sandwich Generation

Dearests Beloveds,

I hope very much when you are my age I am compos mentis enough to remember what it is like to be in the middle. If not, this is why your Momma is writing, and you are welcome. Feel free to throw it in my face and have me reread - I would be honored.

Read More

Letter to my children: A Life Skill List

Letter to my children: A Life Skill List

Dragon, you ask us, “What do you talk about on your dates?”

Bean, you implore us, “Momma, no! Stay home with us! Don’t go out!”

“Can’t my loves, we need some time just the two of us. If it makes you feel better - usually we end up talking about you.”

“Really?” Wide happy faces.

Really, my beloveds, really.

Recently, we talked about our vision for our family and our goals for your homeschooling homesteading (schoolsteading) life with us before you venture out on your own.

Read More

Letter to my children: Labels suck, Survivorship rocks

Letter to my children: Labels suck, Survivorship rocks

Dearest Beloveds,

If you choose to spend rainy afternoons as adults reading these letters (and maybe my book) from your Momma than you will have gathered by now that I am what is known as a cancer survivor.

I don’t like labels.

That label to me immediately evokes infusion machines, anti-nausea medication, and pit of my stomach fear. “Survivor” is not much better as a label.

Survivor of what? Of life? Of the human experience? You might as well say that every person on this planet is a survivor of one thing or another.

Read More

Letter to my children: On Practice

Letter to my children: On Practice

Dearest Beloveds,

Some of these letters are snapshots of your life and some of them are Momma pontifications. Today is a pontification I have been meaning to address for a bunch of while whiles.

Bean, I understand the reason you push back against writing. Dragon, I understand why you push back against piano. As I have told both of you, at your age I felt the same way. It was difficult because I wasn’t good at it. The only way it gets better is to put the time in every day. One day you will look up and you will be able to write easily and know where the notes are. This is why it is important to practice - which brings me to my time to pontificate.

Read More