The Map-Maker's Mother

I think we’ve discovered a therapy center that is actually going to help. I went into this with extreme skepticism, but after our first session on Friday I received more feedback than I did in six weeks at that other place. I know it’s not a panacea, but they’re doing the things that need to [...]

So many things are impossible to explain.
Why, for example, I haven’t posted in a week and a half. Completely inexplicable. No reason for it–no excuse.
Why, as well, I fell into a total and debilitating slump that lasted for three interminable weeks. Equally inexplicable is why I snapped out of it.
I have decided it was a form [...]

My brain seems to have decided on its own accord that real life is just not working out.
It has instead developed a single-minded focus on one thing: sewing. I’m a long-time sewer (seamstress?) and cranked out my first gathered skirt sometime in the early 80s, but for the past few years sewing has taken a backseat to (a) childrearing [...]

MapKid (who returned from Oklahoma City yesterday afternoon and started school today–and yes, there was celebratory skipping) has developed an odd and annoying problem of getting up umpteen billion times at night to go to the bathroom.
Now, I can understand the occasional trip to the loo in the wee hours, but this is on an [...]

A friend called yesterday afternoon. “So what are you doing?” she asked.
“I just waved goodbye to MapKid as he drove off for his five-day stay with his Nana in Oklahoma City,” I said.
“Oh, you must be so sad,” she said.
Um, sad? Not exactly. I was thinking more along the lines of gleeful. Relieved. Delighted. Overjoyed. And [...]

My work-out routine was shot to splintereens this summer by my erratic childcare schedule, but I thankfully made it to Nia this week. Nia gets described in all kind of elaborate ways, but it basically boils down to Jazzercize for the New-Age-inclined. In other words, it incorporates a lot of yoga-type discussion of chakras in between [...]

I don’t do well with anger.
I come from a family where people don’t fight–or at least they fight very little. My parents rarely argued–and honestly, the few time they did, it totally freaked me out. I never had a shouting match with my parents, or even slammed a door at them. I’m essentially nonconfrontational, and [...]

Last night was the last evening my husband was going to be out of town on business, and I decided MapKid and I needed a treat. It had been a rocky day–dinner at the grandparents had been a nightmare, since the new food regime is not always as enjoyable as the roasted potatoes incident. Why [...]

The time has come to deal with food.
MapKid eats about five foods. This would be bad enough, but which five foods changes frequently and without notice. He’ll always eat chicken strips and french fries–his default order at any restaurant. I keep a bag of frozen nuggets in the freezer, and I try to contain my [...]

We didn’t take the Cookie Bandit very seriously.
We were told when we first arrived at our vacation cabin that the Bandit was up to his tricks. But how do you get seriously worried about someone known as the Cookie Bandit? I imagined Cookie Monster with a black mask.
The residents and cabin owners knew all about the [...]