Veronica

The Trouble with Magnet Schools
By Veronica
Today I will be standing in line with hundreds of other people in the cold, cold weather for at least two hours, but possibly five. It's not for a concert or a Broadway show or the latest high tech gadget. We will be standing in line because we hope to get our children into the schools of our choice. (…)

He Stays
By Veronica
Last night at dinner my four-year-old began quizzing me about our family tree. This has been a theme for her lately. She chooses a random relative and asks questions about him or her. This time she piped up with "Mama, who was your daddy's grandpa?"
That was not an easy question to answer. I have no stories about my father's grandpa, because he abandoned his kids after his wife died. the children were raised by a strict and resentful aunt. I explained this briefly to my daughter, but then, thinking about the worries this might create for her, I added, "Not all men are good daddies like yours. Your daddy will not leave. He stays forever."
This has been a bad week for us. We have been potty-training our middle two children with mixed success. My three-year-old, who already evidences her mother's hatred of being wrong, has decided that since the potty is intimidating and the diaper is for babies, she will refuse to relieve herself at all ever. She screams and sits on the floor to clench the necessary muscles into submission. Meanwhile, the one-year-old has diaper rash and the new baby has a colon like Old Faithful, in force if not predictability, which makes carrying her is a special kind of Russian roulette. (…)

Not Yet Bigger Than a Breadbox
By Veronica
At the baby's check-up this week, the doctor and I were both surprised to find she was growing quite well. She is in the 81st percentile for weight, a definite first for this family of skinny babies. I could not be more pleased. I congratulated my breasts on all their hard work. (…)

Feeling Clannish
By Veronica
I sat in church, my four-year-old in my lap. She has a hard time sitting still, but today she was rapt, focused on the processional that wove its way through the church. Families carried plaid flags around the sanctuary before planting them into a stand on the dais. A Caledonian band marched behind them, bagpipes playing. (…)

Full to Brimming
By Veronica
I took all four kids to the grocery store the other day. (…)

Things I Have Done One-Handed Since Having a Baby
By Veronica
My youngest daughter is now five weeks old and, like all babies, she wants to be held all the time. You know how it is. So I am rediscovering the skill of doing things one-handed. (…)

My Mother and the Cake Mix
By Veronica
My mother came to visit me for the birth of my daughter, turning my home upside down for a week and then happily flying away.
When my mother visits, several things are certain. (…)

Car Games and Baby Nights
By Veronica
My parents were dedicated to the family vacation. Every summer we would pile into the family vehicle and strike off for parts unknown. Grandparents, old family friends and places of historic interest usually made up our itenerary. (…)

Saintliness
By Veronica

I was five years old, and full of awe for my grandfather. He loved me with an overflowing heart, claiming me for a grand-daughter when we were not blood kin. (…)

Windstorms and Candles
By Veronica
Yesterday a windstorm blew through our midwestern city, the last gasp of Hurrican Ike. (…)

My Mother and the Military
By Veronica
This weekend my darling fourth daughter was born (you can read about the drama of the birth here), and my mother drove up from her Texas home to help me for awhile. (…)

Ex Substantia Matris
By Veronica

I lie in the half-light, a pillow propping up my back. My baby lies on her side, suckling, her head cradled in the crook of my arm. (…)

The Rowdy Daughter
By Veronica
Yesterday I was sitting in the bathroom at church (I'm pregnant - I spend half of church sitting in bathrooms) when I overheard two ladies talking about my daughter. (…)

Something I Do Right
By Veronica
When Az the Husband and I married, along with our wedding vows we had a handful of private, informal agreements with each other. (…)

A Pregnancy Fear I Never Expected
By Veronica
I am the over-reacting type. I know it, and through sheer force of effort I avoid hysteria, but by nature I am a worrier. (…)

Potential
By Veronica
When I was a kid, I absorbed a less than sparkling truth from the kids' movies and cheerful teachers around me: I could be anything I wanted to be. (…)

If Every Mom Were a Stay-At-Home Mom
By Veronica
If every mom were a stay-at-home mom, the public schools would shut down due to a lack of teachers.
If every mom were a stay-at-home mom, giving birth would become much more dangerous. (…)