Category: motherhood

  • Jenna

    Lessons from the Little Ones

    The first hour or two of a long road trip is really just your mind scanning to see what you forgot. The car potty. Not the car potty. The good thing about road-tripping during a pandemic is that peeing on the side of the road feels mostly acceptable.  Van patrol set off to Sacramento, CA, […]

  • Jenna

    How to fall in love with me, for me

    To fall in love with me is to say I love you and I see you to every piece of me. I will never leave you, you’re my priority. It means fresh flowers around the house; anything the color green. Lots of trees. With anxiety; unending compassion and reassurance. With anger; validation and love. With […]

  • Jenna

    Note to Self

    waves of grief surges of birth toddler tantrums that feeling of panic like river rapids will it ever end? it always ends.

  • Jenna

    Two for One

    It seems that deeply  and compassionately falling in love with myself – every layer – feels a lot like finding God. Or is it the other way around?

  • Jenna

    My Heart

    Maiz: “Mommy, how do you take your heart out?” Me: “You don’t bug, it’s something that stays right there in your body.” Maiz: “But how do you take it out?” Me: “You don’t sweetheart. It’s inside you and it’s what keeps you going.” Maiz: “But how do you take your heart out and give it […]

  • Jenna

    First Impressions

    When I first saw her she was all stick and bones. Her thin trunk, merely the keeper of weathered branches. Had she just lost everything or was she just about to bloom? I couldn’t see her whole story, I just knew she had one. She didn’t seem worried, confident it was just a season; fruitful […]

  • Jenna

    For the Books

    Twas’ the night before Christmas eve and I was sitting in my room sorting and getting ready to wrap each of the girls’ presents I had thoughtfully collected over the last month. As Ryan, Maisley and Coura rushed into the house with dinner, I threw a blanket over the gifts and went to join them.  […]

  • Jenna

    Christmas Present

    As I was on my usual walk through the eucalyptus trees, I noticed an abandoned play structure in a backyard, overgrown with weeds and sticks and leaves. It made me think about that family whose kids are now running around soccer fields, texting their friends and rolling their eyes at the people who gave them […]

  • Jenna

    Love, Mom

    Please get off your sister. I’m so proud of you. Come cuddle with me. Give me a minute please. No, one more minute.  No one’s tougher than the sun. What just happened here? Markers are for paper only. What do you see? Can I do mermaid hair? One show. Did you hear what I just […]

  • Jenna

    The Kind of Mom

    She’s the kind of mom who looks like the sister. More energy than a jukebox. Loves the song, “You shook me all night long.” And the Bible verse, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Best known for napkin notes, Cheesy Noodle Fridays and marathon finish lines. Always there, takes the heat, […]