Every year, in early December, my husband and I have the same conversation: Him: Can we not overdo presents this year? Me: Sure. Him: But you say that every year. Me: But this year will be different. I promise. By middle December, I start to feel panic rising. “The most magical time of the year” … Continue reading How I Found the “Merry” in Christmas by Suddenly Letting Go
At Home
The Physics of Giving a Chicken a Bath
The white pasty butt on the chicken was still there in the morning. And that evening too. It continued on for weeks, despite all my wishing that it would suddenly disappear. No one had warned me about this when I inquired about the live edged, hand crafted chicken coop that would add a touch of … Continue reading The Physics of Giving a Chicken a Bath
Don’t Clean the Basement Alone in Your Midlife Empty Nest
Empty Nest, when I say it quickly, sounds to me like the word emptiness. Emptiness means something is missing; as if there was once something there and it needs to be found. Like an empty nest which lost the birds, abandoned. I imagine a little round pile of sticks and branches, carefully placed, so … Continue reading Don’t Clean the Basement Alone in Your Midlife Empty Nest
How I Solved My Recipe Crisis
A slip of paper, “Peggy’s Chicken,” from early spring of 1995, landed on top of a faded index card detailing Great Grandma’s Taffy, circa 1950, on my wooden kitchen floor. I had accidentally knocked my recipe box off the counter as I made lunches for school. Thankfully the oak box remained intact unlike the … Continue reading How I Solved My Recipe Crisis
When Crows Yell Freeze
Sometimes I will be sitting on my back porch and something will shift in the yard. The Tufted Titmice, for instance, will fly from the bird feeder in groups of ten at once, a sudden rush to leave. It is that specific feeling of emergency that makes me look up from my work. The wind … Continue reading When Crows Yell Freeze
Confession
I was packing up for our annual family camp trip and considering some options in case of rainy days. I had two new books I was excited to read and those were in. Other years I had brought my guitar along with piles of sheet music that I was struggling to learn --but it had … Continue reading Confession
Coincidence
(this piece was originally published on http://www.scarymommy.com, formally known as "themid" in August, 2015 under the title "Why I embrace a little magic in my life and hope my kids do too.") My kids were pissed, to put it mildly, that I went to the tarot card reader. A nerdy bunch, they are the … Continue reading Coincidence
For the Last Time
Published on ScaryMommy.com (Club Mid) as Washing my Son's Hair for the Last Time With icecream, you have some warning when you are getting to the last bit. You can emotionally prepare bowl by bowl and when things are looking close to the end you can go out and get some more --or at the … Continue reading For the Last Time
Not What I Expect
She was not what I expected. Walking toward my car in her high heels and bleached blond hair, she motioned us to the garage in back. I shouldn’t have been surprised at this point because just a few minutes before I had driven right past her house. I didn’t think the naked mannequin for sale … Continue reading Not What I Expect
Megan Houston Sager 