My Phone Problem

Today, at VillageQ, I posted about my struggle to balance my online work, personal writing and family. Putting my phone away so that I'm present with my children is something I know I need to do and yet have a hard time remembering. I hear that ding telling me I have a text or I see those seductive little red notification numbers and I want to see what's going on. I know that it impacts my kids and I know I'm setting a bad example for them. They have some media limits and I have none. It's the most glaring double standard in our house. The other one is "No food after 9 p.m." but don't tell them about that one. One day, Zeca said, “If your iPhone and I were both falling off of a cliff, would you save me or your iPhone?”

Bad, right? You can read the rest of the story here.

One of the reasons this post is late tonight is that we celebrated a friend's birthday tonight and then, after everyone left, Zeca and I had a Tea and Reading night. I made us each a cup of tea and we crawled into my bed and read our books. We started this awhile ago to encourage reading but I was inconsistent. We talked and we set our nights - Tuesdays and Sundays. I'm sticking to it.

PHOTO CREDIT: VIKKI REICH

Real Men

We pass this billboard on the way to school every morning and, this morning, my kids had the following conversation: Miguel: Real men love babies! They should put a billboard up right next to that one that says "Real men love women and want them to have control over their own bodies!"

Zeca: But Miguel, some men don't love women. They love men. So, real men don't always love women.

Miguel: That's a good point but the billboard idea would still be a good one for the men that do love women.

Zeca: Yeah.

I didn't say a word - just let them talk and fell in love with the way they think about things.

FEATURED PHOTO CREDIT: JANE BOOTH-TOBIN

On Swaying

Early in my life as a parent, I noticed the way I held my babies, the way I would rock back and forth and whispered to them. This isn't something I learned from my own mother, at least not that I remember. I also noticed Luisa doing it and my friends and even strangers in check-out lines in grocery stores. There is a common rhythm to this swaying that we do when soothing someone we love. I reflected on this and what swaying has come to mean in our house and am thrilled that the post is featured on Mamalode today.

Here is an excerpt:

I saw Luisa standing in the pantry staring out the window that was perfectly framing a full moon. She held our daughter against her chest and swayed back and forth and stared out the window, whispering words of comfort like a secret.

These are constants–the moon, the movement of the tides, the instinct to comfort.

You can read the rest here.

PHOTO CREDIT: VIKKI REICH