A Mom's Life

Since college, I have suffered from migraines. And, boy, I have suffered. I remember the first time I got one. I was completely unable to function. I had a paper due the next day. This is back when I used to HAND WRITE my papers and then type them up in the computer lab. Lucky for me, my friend typed up the paper for me while I lay in the dark, confused and disoriented. I had no idea what hit me. Everyone has a bad headache once in awhile. A migraine is not your run-of-the-mill headache. It's a neurological nightmare. At first, I had them every six months or so, and while an inconvenience, I could usually shut myself away in a dark room for long enough to let it wear off. I tried prescribed migraine medication and it only made me more ill. As time has gone on, the symptoms have strengthened and the their duration has increased. Here's how it usually goes: it starts with light, natural or florescent. Sometimes it can be the contrast between being in a dark room and looking ...

Last Thursday evening Andy and I piled into a room with lots of other moms and dads. We sat in tiny plastic chairs and nervously looked around at the other folks who uncomfortably positioned and repositioned their bums. Some faces were those of friends, people we have come to know from swim lessons, Saturday morning outings to the Farmer's Market and play dates at the playground. Others were strangers, people who live in our small town whom we've never crossed paths with before. We were all in the room for a common purpose and over the next 12 years, each and every face in the room will be familiar to us, as will the faces of their children. Welcome to kindergarten orientation. As we listened to the kindergarten staff introduce themselves, I diligently took notes. Purchase: sturdy backpack, lunch bag, sneakers with laces, shirts that don't show off the belly. Bring to registration: birth certificate, proof of residency, kid. I shoulder bumped Andy (it wasn't hard to do ...