We learned lyrics to the fight songsang them in a sea of strangers on Saturday morningsthen, fueled by victory or losswe looped arms around each other’s shoulders and swayed to the softness of the alma mater.They told us if we walked into a crowded bar inBrazil and yelled, “Go Green!” someone would respond, “Go White!”because that’s what it means to be a Spartan.And we believed … Continue reading Midnight Scream
My hair has fallen out two more times since I had my daughter. I have peed my pants on multiple occasions, sometimes in public, often while running but also from sneezing (always because I didn’t do enough kegels). Almost nine years into motherhood, my body is still capricious. Fickle. Unforgiving. But this body has also nursed three babies. She has cared for feverish kiddos while wiping her own drippy nose and made broccoli cheese soup from scratch with a toddler strapped to her back. This is the body that kisses foreheads goodnight and dances in the living room after dinner. My body has been on a journey, but she’s returning as someone I recognize, someone I can rely on. Continue reading A Body I Can’t Trust
My 5:30 a.m. wake-up call babbles through the baby monitor. I groan, never ready to start the day so early. My husband rolls to face me and asks, “Do you mind if I go for a run?” A good wife would say yes right away, I think. But I pause before responding with a sigh. “No, that’s fine. Have fun.” We both know I’m struggling … Continue reading Tell Me What You Need
Last year started out with a bang (or perhaps that was the sound of my front driver’s side tire hitting the curb in the Starbuck’s parking lot, which I thought was no big deal, which caused my tire to slowly leak during my hour-long FaceTime call with my mom, which caused me to be stranded when the call was over)! So from January I will … Continue reading To Keeping It All
Over the last couple of years I’ve made reading a priority again and it’s been incredibly life-giving. I read 28 books in 2022 and loved many of them. Here are abbreviated thoughts on each book along with links to purchase. All links are Bookshop.org affiliate links give me a small monetary kickback if you purchase. I post reviews on Instagram as I read, and I’d love … Continue reading 2022 Reading List
I. I started working at a nursing home when I was 16, and the first winter I worked there, I forgot to ask for Christmas off. The residents needed to eat, and it was my job to pour their drinks, roll silverware into napkins, and do the dishes. While most teenagers would’ve been really excited about time-and-a-half pay, I felt guilty for derailing our family … Continue reading Four Christmases
Married, thirty-something mother of three seeks friends. Continue reading Wanted: Friendship
It started with a discussion about Halloween costumes. I let the kids get fancy store-bought costumes this year, I texted my college roommates, all of them moms. I continued to talk about how I usually have them choose something from our dress-up bin or find something secondhand. I couldn’t fight the urge to explain myself. Then, my friend Katie responded. Our kids have store-bought costumes, … Continue reading That’s Just the Mom That I Am
I’m not exactly a sports nut. I was a cheerleader in high school, and I spent my first football cheer season constantly trying to figure out if my team was on offense or defense. Even with my limited sports knowledge, I do know that Tom Brady played for a while on a team called the Patriots. I’m wondering if that’s why he got confused enough … Continue reading Tom Brady thinks football season is like a military deployment. I think he’s wrong.
Because I forgot to move a load of laundry to the dryer. Because I hear footsteps on the stairs. Because the six-year-old has aching shins–growing pains, again. Because there’s been another shooting in another school. Because teenagers are tossing toilet paper into the neighbor’s trees. Because my husband’s CPAP mask has shifted. Because the dog is snoring. Because I need to list all the reasons … Continue reading Why can’t I sleep?
Melissa Kutsche 