I’ve lost a lot of weight recently. It’s not all that new or different as I’ve yoyo-ed a lot over the past 20 years or so, but I’m approaching my lowest adult weight and it’s drawn a lot of attention from those around me. It feels good to have people notice my hard work and… Read More I Am More Than My Weightloss
My Sweet Child, We are finding ourselves once again in a familiar dance. The catalyst being the bruising of your tender places and the grand finale undoubtedly containing quite the bang. When you were young, I would sit in the middle of your room as you spiraled and raged around me. Silent and still, just sitting…waiting.… Read More Dear Hurting Child
If you’ve been here for a bit, you know that CTWM’s primary mission, along with keeping it real, is Judgement-Free Motherhood. The second the idea was born and the tag line was added to the page, it felt like home to me. Not that I’ve never judged another mom before (quite the opposite, actually) but… Read More My First Foray into Judgement Free Motherhood
I recently came across Scary Mommy’s article 6 Reasons The Family Medical Leave Act is Bullshit and, man, did it resonate. I’m a happy mom of 3 thriving children. Life is crazy, but manageable. I’ve never really resented being a working mom…that is, except for when it comes to the few first precious months of my… Read More Why Paid Family Leave is Important to Me
We are fortunate to have a sea of mothers in our life. Multi-generation Mom’s, two-Mom family friends, social work co-workers, and of course, Mom-bloggers. The exuberance of store clerks, drive through attendants, and other customers offering, “Happy Mother’s Day!” was pretty exciting this weekend. As I waited in line with last minute purchases, I overhead… Read More The Other Mother on Mother’s Day!
I’ve been asked that question before and always felt caught off guard. Who am I to say? Our foster journey was brief, relatively speaking, and though we do hope to return someday, I’m still trying to figure it all out. It seems to me that the best way to answer that question is to go… Read More What Makes a Good Foster Parent?
I’m so glad I kept a journal in my early days of parenting, when we were first meeting our children, and learning the foster parent dance. There are some magical moments caught in there… I noticed early on that it was very powerful to say to my son, “I am glad you are here.” I… Read More A Memory
Anyone else a cover-er? Raising a child with an absent parent that you feel the need to cover for and keep up on a pedestal? My son has been with us for almost 5 years and his memory of what came before is fading. In many ways, this is a wonderful blessing. He’s starting to forget… Read More Covering
Less that half of former foster youth are employed at 23, and only 3 percent have finished college (compared to 28% of the general population with a BA or higher). The teen birth rate for girls who’ve been in foster care is more than double the rate of their peers outside the foster care system. Foster care alumni are… Read More A Prayer for My Children
One mother raised me, the other welcomed me in. Being an adopted daughter has always been a place of playfulness, uniqueness, and even a touch of reverence for me. I was blessed to know from the moment I could understand that one mother gave me life, the other gave me a home. I have also been blessed… Read More From an Adopted Daughter: What My Moms Taught me About Parenting
CT Working Moms 