Mother’s Day
You never need a special occasion to tell someone you love them, but I think we should take every opportunity to shower mothers with love and attention. Motherhood has been the most incredible experience of my life, and my children are the first thing I think of in the morning and the last thing I think about at night...my love for them, hopes for their future, and also my fears about guiding them through life. Becoming a mother has made me appreciate my own mom so much more --- and I already appreciated her.
I want to take this opportunity to thank my Mom for her unwavering support, love, warmth and her incredible ability to find the best in people, and to find happiness in the small things. Whenever I face a parenting dilema, I always ask myself, "what would mom do." She is the calm in the middle of the storm for everyone in her life. My kids are so lucky to have such an incredible, vibrant grandmother. I hope that I can be to my kids what she is to me.
Wishing you all a very happy Mother's Day!!
My beautiful mom in the 70's
CATEGORIES: Kids and family
Moms, get back into the picture!
As soon as I had kids, I started taking pictures, and stopped getting into the shot. WIth the exeption of a few photos that my husband took of me with my newborns, I can rarely be found in a photo. I don't particularly want to see myself in photos, and my top priority is documenting my kids' lives (the photo above is about as close as I normally get to being in a picture!) . Our lives as mothers are mostly unseen, and unless we do something about it, we will edit ourselves out of our kids visual history. Allison Tate's article, The Mom Stays in the Picture in The Huffington Post brought me to tears, and beautifully illustrated this phenomenon.
Allison says, "I'm everywhere in their young lives, and yet I have very few pictures of me with them. Someday I won't be here -- and I don't know if that someday is tomorrow or thirty or forty or fifty years from now -- but I want them to have pictures of me. I want them to see the way I looked at them, see how much I loved them. I am not perfect to look at and I am not perfect to love, but I am perfectly their mother."
CATEGORIES: Kids and family
Spring Break
The weather in Chicago has been dismal, so I'm holding onto visions of our recent trip to the Dominican Republic. We indulged in delicious meals and local cocktails, spent time in the pool and the sand, and truly unplugged for the first time in ages.
My daughter made a friend from Venezuela, and despite the language barrier, they loved every minute they spent together. Although our place is not advertised as a family resort, it had the cutest bunk room for the kids (along with tiny robes and slippers), which made bedtime easy, and our evenings much more relaxing. It was the perfect balance of grown-up amenities, with child friendly touches, so the whole family was happy.
Here are a few glimpses of our getaway....
The golf cart was the most exciting part of the trip for my car/truck obsessed son
My favorite perch
My daughter and her new friend
The kids bunk room
The view from our favorite, beach side restaurant
CATEGORIES: Kids and family, Places
