Tips for Portland's New or Soon-to-Be Parents

Metro Parent published a couple of my stories recently that help new or expecting parents in the Portland area live more fully.
Check out:

"Pregnant in Portland? 10 Things You Need to Know" and
"After Baby's Born: The New Parents' Need-to-Know List"

...in Metro Parent's online "Your Baby & You" special issue. Lots of other great information in there too!

Just click on this post's title, above, to be linked to the .pdf. Or go to http://www.metro-parent.com/issues/baby09/index.html.

Happy parenting!

The best of both seasons

The kids went back to school today, making it official: summer's over.

Time to show the sunny months -- with their adventure, freedom and weekends that start Friday at 3 -- the door. And as they walk out, you stand up a little straighter, pat your hair into place and look the back-to-business months of fall square in the eye. Sigh good-naturedly. Invite them in to set up shop in your favorite chair. Ask what they need, and then go get it. You know it's time.

In reflecting on this changing of the seasonal guard today -- as I catalogued our summer activities, wondered where two-plus months went, and felt a little shell-shocked by how dramatically one day can change the communal zeitgeist -- I wondered how the two sides of us - Summer Us and Fall Us - might mix. The best parts of both, working together to make us adventurous, free of spirit AND productive. As we move into the comforting routines of September, whether it be at work, in school, or at home, how do we hang on to the special joy of summer, with dinners on the patio and kids playing until after dark, while also enjoying the autumnal satisfaction of a misty day spent ticking off boxes on the meaty to-do list we neglected for three months?

I for one will try, as an experiment. How? Perhaps by injecting a little more spontaneity into the predictable structures that school-time brings our family. Maybe skip a school event and head to the beach for some storm-watching and indoor s'mores making. Maybe it's a November trip to a yurt. Or splurging on fresh berries in October. Or maybe it's just an attitude, reflected in subtle ways: A bright color worn on a dark day. A dinner revolving around fresh herbs and good tomatoes for as long as one can get them. A willingness to let the kids stay up late one night, even though we'll all be wrecks the next day.

The point isn't to deny the seasonal rhythms our ancestral beings need. Nor is it to eschew the renewed focus on the practical, the predictable, the work of life that we all seem to aspire to in fall. It's about acknowledging that, like old friends, maybe you don't need to shut one out in order to enjoy the other. And in mixing them, you may find some pleasant surprises.

Beyond Mamadom: Thriving as a Woman

This blog is dedicated to every Mama who has ever wondered where the person she was before Mama-hood went. For Mamas who love their babies more than anything in the world, but would love to strap on their dancing shoes every once in a while. Or their writing shoes, or their hanging-out-with-buddies-and-without-kids shoes, or their husband-loving-me-and-I-don't-mean-as-a-Mom shoes.

I can't say we all have those moments, but I suspect we all do. This blog is about the adventure of motherhood and about having adventures while being a mother, with kids and without. In other words, it's about living, truly living - whatever that means to you - through your time of Mama-hood. For me, now that Littlest is 16 months and Biggest is almost three, it means re-igniting my writing career, trying to blow-dry my hair at least a few times a week, working on loving my body now and as I want it to be 15 pounds from now, and just generally jumping back into the world a little more, and with a little more verve.

As I go through this journey, I know others are on similar paths, and I hope you will add your comments, thoughts, tips, and experiences. By sharing ideas, inspiration, information, conversation, events and stories about being a truly awake, happening, active and self-loving Mama, I hope this blog will help all us Mamas feel alive!

More soon,
Sarah