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Once upon a summer afternoon, it was the month of June in the happening town of New Paltz, New York…

What to our wondering eyes did appear…? 

Naked babies of all colors, shapes and sizes playing happily together in a cool pool of shallow water. Is there a more simple pleasure than cooling oneself off on a hot day in a local swimming hole, lake or river? I think not!

It’s 4 PM and I still have my jammies on.

The dishes are piled high, the trash needs to be taken out, toys are strewn across the living room floor. The compost bucket hasn’t been emptied and has attracted the entire fruit fly population of New York . . .

I have been thinking a lot about trusting my instincts as a mother. Sometimes that is easier said than done. Especially when someone in an authority position (a doctor, a teacher, a specialist) or someone whose approval I seek (my mother, my partner, my friend) are telling me something I am doing is wrong. That can be enormously frustrating – and it recently happened to me. I have realized a positive benefit though – it forced me to consciously evaluate my beliefs and practices and affirm my choices. To explain, I always just knew I would breastfeed. In fact, I dreamed about breastfeeding a baby,...

  Stoic, unflinching--rifle-in-hand--warding off bears and wildcats. Remember Ma from Little House on the Prairie? Can you think of anyone more idealized? She had tons of patience, home-making skills, doctor, childbirth and child raising skills. She took care of cows and chickens, and fed her family. She quilted and made clothes for her family. She prayed and sang and taught her children. She was good at almost everything. But there was one thing she wasn't good at. Ma wasn't good at was making friends. Because she was a Pioneer Woman, wedded young to a man she barely knew, with 3 children before...

I want to give my toddler, Ember, this beautiful gift: to accept her for exactly who she is. It’s a gift I want to give myself too. I realized that too often I waste precious thought-time comparing myself to other moms and then comparing Ember to other babies. It isn’t fair to either of us. The temptation is hard to resist, especially after Ember has a hard night with many wakings or when she wants me to hold her most of the day and I think of all the things I want to do but can’t manage to complete. When...