The Lean In Blog

Two is a sweet age. I summon up the image of my two year old meticulously placing his toy cars, one by one, in a single-file line, arranging and rearranging, with manic precision. I recollect sitting and watching him, a wave of peaceful contentment washing over me....

“When’s the best time to have kids?” “When they’re asleep!” someone once quipped. The tongue in cheek here is not lost on young parents. The daily din and hubbub with little ones is constant and we parents need a break as much as they do. But there is something deeper...

Let’s play “Family”! Pretend you’re the sister and I’m the mommy, pretend I’m the dog, pretend my name is Flora, Abigail, Elinor… Liliana frolicks and revels in a world of pretend. As she plays “school” with her popsicle sticks, I marvel at the fluidity with which she...

“Anything else?” my obstetrician asks at my two-week post-partum visit, after I casually mention the usual maternal ailments: sleep-deprivation, sleep deprivation. Sleep. Deprivation.  The soft crinkles around his eyes deepen as his question dangles, patiently,...

“No pee-pee fairy!” the kids lament casually upon entering my bedroom in the morning. Groggy and bleary-eyed, I mumble, “it’s still early, maybe she’ll arrive later…” Alas, we have fallen into the reward system of disciplinary and restorative measures. Sticker charts...

Notes and Hugs   Stop studying. Have fun! This is the note Sebastian scribbled on a piece of paper and delivered to me at 7:45 am on a Monday morning, the first day of my extended school practicum. When I asked Liliana one evening where Ima is on her...

This is not a typical picklesandpopsiclesticks post. It stems from some reflection prompted by my coursework on place, self, and the moving space between the two. Here it is for what it's worth. Back to my "momoir" sometime. soon. I hope. Once I sat on the steps by...

Oof! This is my expletive. My husband will remind me that there have been others in my repertoire that have elicited our alarm and amusement when subsequently pronounced by resident preschooler and kindergartner. But Oof will effectively express my exasperation. Most...

Single mom here. Lance in Cincinnati completing his DMA. Me, with two little kids, having moments. Lots of them. While they appear copious, said moments are better qualified than quantified. As in I want to strangle you kids and throw you out the window moments; my...

“You’re NEVER having juice again!!!!”  Say what???!!! Did I just say that out loud??? How idiotic a statement is that? And this to the angel child, the child who repeatedly admonishes his sister to “ask Ima,” the child who is distressed when I forget to brush his...