No Roses Today

Posted on May 9, 2011 in Family, Holidays, Parenting, Relationships

My sister, Kelly, reminded me through her own tears that today, on Mother’s Day, it will be the first time since our children were born that we wouldn’t be receiving our yearly delivery of roses from our dad. You see every year Mother’s day was a big deal in our home, even growing up, we went to dinner or brunch or something with all of us kids and often my grandparents as well. I remember many brunches at The Velvet Turtle or some Mexican...

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Perfectly Good Enough

Posted on May 2, 2011 in Children, Domestic Violence, Parenting

When my kids were in Nursery School and in those tender transitional moments when we had such difficulty separating for even ten minutes, the teacher in her infinite wisdom instructed the panicked group of parents that we had become to “be excited about separating so you can be excited to come back together”. She went on to suggest that we don’t make the all too easy declaration that “mommy doesn’t want to go to work”, because while that might...

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The Plague of Lice

Posted on Apr 25, 2011 in Children, Holidays, Parenting, Relationships

Our family’s Exodus story began with a plague of sorts. Michael and I had been looking forward to our trip back east with much anticipation. We both had been working very hard and couldn’t wait to get away with our kids and visit his family on the East coast. Leading up to our trip I had been working long days at a job that I love but with the death of my dad just a month earlier the idea of being away on a relaxing trip was honestly all I...

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Are You Hard or Soft? Which Do You Share? It’s Not What You Think!

Posted on Apr 18, 2011 in Family, Holidays, Parenting, Relationships

It’s Passover and as Michael, the kids and I prepare for a leaven-less week, I am taking a moment out to think about what this holiday and this season mean. Whether you celebrate Passover or Easter…or Eastover… or are simply taking time out to notice it’s spring, it’s a time of rebirth and renewal and, of course, reflection.  So, I am remembering a story, a call for introspection, I once heard about Passover and the reason we eat matzah. ...

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Be Selfish! Well, Sort of

Posted on Apr 11, 2011 in Children, Family, Parenting, Relationships

  Maybe it’s my radar of late, but I have been hearing A LOT of people suggesting to their friends that they “deserve to be selfish”. And the reasons for deserving range from illness, to working too hard, or your children have been driving you crazy. Here’s the thing. I think we’ve maybe forgotten what the term selfish means, or we’ve applied a different, less weighty meaning to the term, or we just don’t have a large enough lexicon for reward....

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The Burden of a Narcissistic Parent

Posted on Apr 4, 2011 in Children, Family, Parenting

Narcissism is a frequently used term in the current socio-political climate. The truth is that most people who are successful in our world have a healthy dose of narcissism, a healthy sense of confidence and self -focus. However, these qualities do not a narcissist make. Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a serious diagnosis rooted, many theorists believe, from a developmental trauma in early childhood. The early wound prohibits a complete...

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