sasha-newborn-chronicles

Our country appreciates a nice big family story. Look no further than the Brady Bunch, Eight is Enough, Jon and Kate Plus Eight and the Duggars. We watch them, we laugh, we cry, we send food, diapers and baby food by the cartful. So what about the octuplets? The recent story about the California octuplets born to a single mother with six other children has most … [Read more...] about Octuplets? Eight is (apparently) Sometimes Enough

I promised myself before I had children that I would never be one of “those mothers.” The kind that lets herself go entirely, stops having sex with her husband and generally becomes a shuffling, sweatpants wearing, minivan driving bore. But as I listened to the following lyrics to the Arctic Monkeys “Fluorescent Adolescent” this morning at the gym, I could not help but … [Read more...] about I Need To Get Out More

There is almost nothing that gets a group of mothers more heated than issues surrounding our children. One feels breast is best, the other hearts formula and there goes the friendship. Women are always our own worst enemies, but never is this more evident than on Mommy listserves and in the blogosphere. This week it has been particularly evident as one mother on my … [Read more...] about Keeping It Cool In the Blogosphere

I came from a family of two girls. I had a father, but I am pretty sure I was unaware that boys existed until I was well into my double digits. My daughter? Not so much. “Tsai?” she asks me while we are giving her two-month-old brother a bath, invoking her universal catch-all phrase that means “what’s that? Who? When? Where? And can I have a peanut butter sandwich?” A … [Read more...] about My Daughter Discovers She’s A Girl! Public Humlity Ensues

I love my little Alan. His big gray eyes are framed by long black lashes. His chubby cheeks are sweet and round. I love to hold him and breathe in his yeasty, sweet baby warmth. But parenting is different the second time around. With Sam, I could scarcely wait to record every milestone—“Sam blinked twice today to indicate yes”; “Sam smiled at me when I showed her the red … [Read more...] about Is Parenting Different the Second Time Around? The Plight of Child Number Two.