The Phoenix: Epicuriousmothering Rising

I know things come easily to people. I've seen it in my own children.  Reading for example:  Some children you point to letters, say their sounds, and they almost immediately know how to read.  Others, it's honestly like banging your head against the wall.  They simply don't get it.  Reading makes zero sense to them and no matter which way you teach it, they can't figure out how to make all the sounds turn into words.  It just doesn't click.  And then, one day, one year, everything falls into place and clicks and they literally know how to read overnight. More often than not, they start devouring books and you wish a little that they never learned because that's all they are doing (but not really, because . . . oh the stress of having a non reader . . . blah).  Everyone has their own time table for waking up and learning things. Reading did not come naturally to me. I knew what the sounds made but putting them together seemed so wrong.  T...

  There's nothing like flying a kite. I don't know why, but it's like flying vicariously or something.  I love it so much and it doesn't get old, no matter how many years go by.  And it seems that everyone in my family loves to fly kites too. My beautiful sister-in-law requested a kite flying day for her birthday.  Yesterday, in fact, (when this photo was taken), we spent the early evening sending our kites into the heavens (they did not always stay there) and watched them dance in the wind (until they crashed down and I spent an hour untangling the mess) and laughed and danced with them.   I think it's because for a minute or two, we feel our smallness in the vastness of the sky and we feel like for a moment we've harnessed the wind and we're part of it all. Maybe my wishful thinking? Probably, but hey, I'm trying to verbalize joy and it's an elusive thing--that's what pictures are for right?  So you tell me . . . w...

My mother was a scatter brain.  Honestly, I don't think any of my siblings or myself can count the times we've been forgotten at ballet or wherever we were.  My aunt would regularly give me a dime to keep in my ballet bag so I'd be able to call her to have her come pick me up (yep, I had the BEST aunt EVER!).  My Mom would be in the middle of something and then totally forget what she was doing.  She'd go to the grocery store and come back without the one thing she needed there . . . I have to say that I thought she was disabled.  I mean, who could forget THEIR OWN CHILD? Right.  There were only eight of us!  And two or three were pretty much already gone!  And how can you go grocery shopping and forget the dish washing detergent?  It's the REASON you went!  Yep, I was sort of punky and if you know my mom, well, she just listened to me tell her a thing or two and said she was sorry (sometimes she cried) and I thought, Oh, man, Mom, whe...