A Mom's Life

In just a few days time, my little Charlotte heads off to the Big K. No, she's not going shopping for blue light specials at the discount retailer. She's headed to Kindergarten. Kindergarten: the best year you'll ever have, full of fun, friends, and big steps. Back in ye olden times, when I was a kid, going to Kindergarten may have been the first time a child was away from her mom or dad for the day. It may have been the first time a child was in a group with other children, eating meals not cooked by family, following rules set forth by strange adults. The first bus rides. The first backpack. The first time to put one's name in her coat and boots. The first invitations to other kids' birthday parties. The first fight on the playground. For Charlotte, and many of her peers, she has experienced all of these before she ever set foot in the Kindergarten classroom. Charlotte is a daycare kid. Only three months after her birth, she was placed into the hands of a non-f...

As a little girl I had long hair that fell to the middle of my back. My mom and I spent countless hours in a tug of war-her trying to hold me down to comb it and me trying to get away while screaming as loudly as possible about the injustice of her brutality. We struggled together for year after year and many a childhood memory includes a tangle of long, matted hair. From lice scares to mopping vomit from its ends, my hair was always there, resting over my shoulders as a part of me. I never thought much about it, it was just always there. Until middle school when I had a sleep over with a few friends. It was then that I realized the power that hair has as a part of our identity. It took only a few minutes and a pair of semi-sharp shears and I went from having those long locks that brushed over my shoulder blades to an un-even, shoulder-length bob; that changed my life forever. I went from being a nerdy middle school girl who wanted nothing more than to be a wall flower to a teenager...

I've always felt let down by big events. I generally try to avoid too much ado on my birthday, It started as a kid and continued into adulthood. On my fifth birthday, things took a turn for the worse when I got upset, hung from the railing on the porch of my house, and called the kids f*ckers. The day was officially ruined (for me) when the kids had to go home and took their gifts with them. I haven't sworn at anyone since then but I just prefer the day come and go, always with the hope that, maybe, just maybe, my fairy godmother will come and take me away to a magical place that will blow my mind and fulfill my every last dream. (It never happens.) Most holidays depress me as well, and, in particular, New Year's Eve, is often just sad. How can anyone have any fun in the cold and snow? Even large amounts of alcohol don't make it better and all I end up doing is trying to talk on a phone that turns out to be a tape dispenser or I wake the next morning feeling like* S...