Category: Parenting
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When I am Gone
She flicks a tear from her cheek, her nervous laugh a cover for unexpected emotion. Pattu reaches out, her fingers lacing themselves through mine. Ammu is on my lap, her neck nestled in the crook of my neck and shoulder. She nuzzles, her cheeks wet with tears. I am overwhelmed. By the tears. By the…
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The Hamster Wheel That Is Parenting
I watch the wet grinder turn, the steel drum distorting my image as it moves. I watch mesmerized, catching a break in what has been an exhausting day. I take a moment to wonder why I feel like this almost all days and realize it is not one thing or one day. It is the…
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A Good Parent
The timer on the microwave went off signaling it was time for me to leave. I turned the stove off shouting a thousand instructions at the kids, the spouse and my mom as I left. I opted to take the longer, winding back roads to the kid’s school. The radio was on and the ethics…
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Sisters, Forever.
They sit side by side, their blonde locks sticking up with the static in the air. They leave a trail of hats, winter jackets, gloves and scarfs from the door to the kitchen. I lay their school bags between them and me, a buffer that gives me time to really wake from my nap and…
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Parenting – A Do It Yourself Project
I sit at the dark wood table, a good 20 feet from the kitchen watching my children crowd around their Appa as he scoops avocado and slices it into bite sized pieces. I offer to mash it up into guacamole and the four of them shake their heads as they eat the ripe avocado right…
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Beating The Blues, Tomorrow.
I walk in after dropping my youngest daughter at daycare. I see evidence of the morning rush near the shoe rack. Shoes strewn all over. I am tempted to put them back in order but I move on. I open the door only to stumble on a half naked doll by the cedar chest housing…
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Empathy, Not Discipline
It was the week before the 2016-17 school year began. The Friday before first day of school, I sat on a folding chair at the elementary school, a pink paisley purse by my side, watching the office manager answer the phone, jest around with the teachers and smile at me. I could hear the deep…
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The Charades I Play
It is drizzling, water spraying on me from trees bent with rain water. I skip over one puddle to land right in the middle of another. Rivulets of water snake past my feet as I move towards my car. I am in no particular hurry. My bag dangles from one arm, my phone on the…
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Parenting – A No-Win Game?
I watch as Ammu steps out of the garage into the sun. I watch as she mulls walking through the puddle of rainwater in the middle of the driveway. I will her to turn, to acknowledge that I am there, standing, watching, hoping. She walks, eyes resolutely ahead. I swallow the lump at my throat…
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Tantrums
I open the door to the cool, semi dark room that houses over 7 toddlers today. Soothing music is piped overhead and I see small forms gently rising and falling as they breathe, as if in sync. I spy Laddu in a corner and stand over her, towering and wondering if she will sense my…