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Awkward: How One Word Ruined a Magic Moment with my Daughter
from The Momoir Project
(1/28/2012 3:39)
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One morning a few weeks ago, I walked into my daughter’s grade two classroom at lunch to bring her the pair of rain boots she had accidentally forgotten at home. When I peered in the doorway, I could see her sitting at her desk, her long, straight brown hair falling across her face,...
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The Laundry Fairy: An Experiment in Teaching My Husband A Thing or Two
from The Momoir Project
(1/21/2012 8:16)
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By Victoria O’Dea I walk into our beautiful bedroom and glance out of the glass doors that lead to our deck. I never tire of the view of the ocean. I marvel at the kayakers and sailboats on the cold, dark water, straighten the photos of our wedding and our three children on the [...]
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Send Your Momoirs To Room Literary Magazine: More Details Here
from The Momoir Project
(1/18/2012 9:08)
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A mother’s work is all labour, isn’t it? It starts out with one big push and it just gets harder over the years. But we all know that it isn’t that simple. Labour is a loaded word. To any new mom, there is only one meaning, the one that conjures up the physical and emotional toil of bringing a child into the word. As a mother of four whose youngest and final child is nearly eight, birth is still, and may always be the first thought that comes to my mind with the mention of labour.
But the word means so much more than that. It is both a noun and a verb. One can toil over their work or labour over it. Labour is work that is done with effort, or workers—not management. For a ship, to labour is make its way with difficulty as it pitches and tosses amid the wind and waves. Labour is the work we do and the challenge that we face while doing it.
To labour is at times is being too persistent at making a point which is what I am getting to here. I ...
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Visions: A Tale from the Ultrasound Room
from The Momoir Project
(1/15/2012 12:24)
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By Kristen Witucki
The sonographer’s job was not to make small talk. I knew that. But I realized how important such chitchat was to me as a blind mother—and therefore how ominous her silence–as I lay there for an hour while she took pictures of my baby. All I could hear was clicking and clicking and more clicking while the weight of mid-pregnancy pressed on my aching lower back.
After her brief initial demonstration of the baby’s heartbeat and her question about whether we wanted to know the gender of our child or not—we did—she had nothing more to say.
James, my partner and the father of my baby, sat in a chair a few feet away, close enough for us to talk if we wanted to but too far away to touch. We didn’t speak—maybe the computer would be kinder to us if we didn’t. Because he is also blind, James could not offer any description to alleviate the silence.
Suddenly the sonographer asked if I had ...
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The Lost Heartbeat: A Mother?s Story of Anticipation and Grief
from The Momoir Project
(1/9/2012 9:57)
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By Colleen Mah
The blinds were closed to keep out the light of the day. My husband, Erwin, hovered near my feet at the end of the examination table, our one-year old son, Teo, in his arms. Cohen, our three-year old, stood on his own but with his back resting up against the security of his daddy’s legs.
Cohen’s face was focused on the monitor with deep concentration. He had been told that he was going to see his new baby brother or sister today. The whole idea was confusing for him because he wasn’t sure how he was going to see pictures of a baby that was inside of his mommy. I had been building up this event for the last few days and he was cautiously excited. Teo was more interested in a toy truck that he had brought in from the waiting room, pushing the wheels around with his little fingers.
“So, you’re twelve weeks now?” Dr. Seethram asked as he spread the cool gel around on my abdomen with the ultrasound wa ...
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My Fear of Flying and other Parentally-Induced Anxieties
from The Momoir Project
(1/5/2012 9:38)
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by Cori Howard
It has been 9 years since I’ve been at an airport without my kids in tow. Nine years since I’ve flown alone. Nine years since I’ve been away from them for any significant length of time, aside from the odd sleepover. I know this is a shocking confession in our culture of “me time,” but it’s true. Until very recently, I have never wanted – or “needed” – to leave them. I spend enough time away from them at work. And they spend enough time away from me at school, their activities and with friends.
But the real reason I haven’t left them is because of something that happened when my first-born, now 10, was just 18 months. Back then, I left him — succumbing to heavy pressure from friends and family — for a weekend away in New York City. But visiting friends and book readings wasn’t the fun-filled weekend I had hoped. There was no heavy partying or getting back in touch with my old p ...
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Last Chance to Sign Up for Momoir Classes starting January 19!
from The Momoir Project
(1/2/2012 2:23)
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Happy new year to everyone!
Just a short post today to let you know that this is the final week for registration for Momoir Writing for Moms classes – both Level 1, Level 2 (advanced publishing) and the new Monthly Writer's Group.
If you made a resolution to start writing in 2012 – about yourself, your kids, your journey as a mother – here's your chance to do it with a group of inspiring women.
The Level 1 class will teach you the basics of good memoir writing and connect you to a great group of women whose stories you will share over the course of three months. The Level 2 class will get your writing into publication – whether small online parenting publications, your local newspaper or national magazines. My Level 2 students have achieved all that in the past … and more.
The Momoir Monthly Writing Group is a truly amazing group of women who have taken both Level 1 and Level 2 and want to continue writing together as a group. We mee ...
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A Mother?s Mantra: I am Grateful for this Day
from The Momoir Project
(12/23/2011 1:16)
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In my writing classes, I always give out "Gratitude" as a prompt for our weekly writing starts. This year, the week I gave that out corresponded to American Thanksgiving which was not only an appropriate coincidence, but also an opportunity for everyone to reflect on all the things in our lives we are grateful for. When it comes down to it, the list makes us return to basics: gratitude for good health, a warm bed, healthy food, loving children. I've published some of my students' stories on gratitude here on the Momoir blog. I wish I could publish every one of them. It's always so inspiring to read and think about gratitude.
I don't recall every feeling truly grateful until I became a mother. Then, when my second child was born and I was supposed to go back to work and there was a strike that meant I had a few months reprieve, I woke up every single morning and the gratitude felt religious. It became my waking prayer: I am grateful for this day. I w ...
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Adopting Nina: A Mother?s Journey to the Ukraine
from The Momoir Project
(12/17/2011 9:30)
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by Ellen Stumbo
They glowered at me. They whispered. Some spat their disapproving words. Although I did not understand their language, I knew why they criticized me. Strapped to me with a long piece of frayed white cloth, my almost four-year-old daughter hung awkwardly on my body. She seemed too old to be carried, and my “baby wearing” was a ridiculous sight.
As we walked the streets of Kiev, browsing the stores, waiting for the adoption documents to be completed, I welcomed these gestures from strangers in the city. They did not know my makeshift “sling” was a banner of hope. The promise of a future. I was giving my daughter the little I could give her at that time. I was giving her my legs.
Really, their response seemed inconsequential when confronted with my daughter’s responses as she experienced the world for the first time. Her squeals of “machina” as cars drove by, the towering buildings that mesmerized her int ...
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Momoir Student Published: Read Her Story Here
from The Momoir Project
(12/15/2011 9:28)
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Tracey Trousdell has been a Momoir student of mine over the years. She took the Level 1 and 2 courses and has kept up with her writing on her own. Today, she sent me a link to her first published story in an online literary magazine that I think might interest many of you.
Here's an excerpt from her story:
The minutes are ticking by, slowly. It’s just before 3 am and the sedatives have done nothing to calm my mind. Beside me, my husband’s chest rises and falls rhythmically and I resent his ability to sleep so soundly. Listening closely, I can faintly hear the whistling snore of my two year old daughter slumbering peacefully down the hall. I roll over and our cat leaps off the bed, creaking a floorboard when he lands. The house is otherwise silent and I am alone with my thoughts.
Four days ago, a routine ultrasound showed that our baby would not survive past birth or even the remainder of this pregnancy. I saw what the doctor was pointing to on the screen: no a ...
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