Jennifer Briggs

Happy Thanksgiving! This year was possibly the least stressful, most relaxed Thanksgiving I’ve had since becoming a parent. I kept thinking that I must have been forgetting to do something. I did almost all of the cooking ahead of time so it was just a matter of reheating for the actual feast. Carl facilitated packing… Read more »

On Monday Amy fell during an indoor flag football game in PE and hurt her left thumb. It was swollen and bruised. She told me about it just as we were getting ready to go to swim lessons, so I didn’t do anything about it. Tuesday  Sarah and Amy and I tried in vain to… Read more »

Carl had Veteran’s day off, which was fortunate since Sarah had a half day, but I was teaching and wouldn’t be home in time to meet her bus. Carl met her bus and later picked Amy up from her after-school activity. He also took Sarah to the park to ride her bike. She is getting… Read more »

Trick-or-treating went well. It wasn’t too cold and the sun was even shining when the girls started out. Amy went with some friends of hers and Sarah went with Anna. Carl and I stayed at home to hand out candy, realizing how little we were needed as parents at that moment. Everyone was well all… Read more »

Happy Halloween! Tonight we will have one house, two sorceresses, and one intersection walk sign that changes color and flashes. Carl’s costume, that he made, is the walk sign and Sarah absolutely loves it. When she first saw it she held it against herself, said she was a walk-sign robot, and said, “beep boop beep… Read more »

We are enjoying a wonderful weekend with Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop. There have been Conversations with Mom-Mom, where Sarah and Amy play with Mom-Mom in her room. Sarah, sometimes known as Door, falls and breaks her nose and needs the aid of Dr. Mouse, also played by Sarah. Speaking of doors, Carl and Sarah went to… Read more »

Surrounded by the silent cacophony of my own judgements about my feelings, I cease to notice them as optional. Inspired by Glennon Doyle’s encouragement to not abandon myself, I have started to notice when I condemn my reactions and to stop the condemnation and start accepting the feelings as rational. For example, yesterday had some… Read more »

Sarah is the most talented and ever-surprising namer of herself and others. This week she called me “Mama Circle-With-A-Line-Through-It” and dubbed herself the same, just as the baby. Amy has been roller-skating a up a storm, and changing her plans for her Halloween costume as rapidly as those roller skate wheels spin. She is alternately… Read more »

We are enjoying a wonderful visit with Grammy and Granddad. On our drive to meet them at our mountain house we had a short phone call on speaker phone. As Carl and I said our goodbyes, from the back seat two voices chimed in with, “Meow!” and, “Musical note!” It was adorable. The only trouble… Read more »

This past week felt extremely packed from Monday through Thursday. I felt like I was barely keeping up with what needed to happen, barely breathing, barely staying afloat. What is always an odd juxtaposition with that feeling is that when I’m actually teaching or giving a massage then I’m not stressed or feeling time pressure…. Read more »