Maren: fivinuhhaf

Nov 21

Maren’s kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Heart, began calling the children (the five-year-olds) writers the very first week of school.  Some, like Maren, could write their own name, but others were still practicing.  Yet, Mrs. Heart called them writers: she called out their identity, and the twenty-four little people in the class are rising to the challenge and...

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Cahoots

Nov 16

Cahoots

My girls are four years and two weeks apart. When I was pregnant with Greta, I wondered what kind of a relationship they would have with each other during their childhood years.  There is so much that plays into it: age, personality, birth order. I have two little sisters; I love my sisters.  When we were little, I was the dictator; treating Chief Sister with my...

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Bedtime list

Sep 07

Tonight I tucked Maren in.  (Oh, how I miss tucking my girls in every night!)  She’s been having nightmares, anxiety, and fear at night, so I was reassuring her, praying with her, and encouraging her.  One of the strategies that we use for her to self-soothe is for her to lie in bed and count off ten happy things on her fingers.  To teach her this practice, I...

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This week

Aug 26

The other day, my friend Joy was walking behind her daughter and my Maren.  The girls were chattering away, as five-year-olds do.  Joy tuned in to hear this snippet of their conversation; it’s Maren describing to her friend what the plan is for the coming week(s): Maren, “My mom is going to the hospital to have surgery.”  Gesturing to her chest,...

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She sees me

Aug 07

She sees me

    Maren drew this picture of me yesterday, and said, “Mama I made this picture of you.  Aren’t you beautiful?”:I love many things about this picture: -My hair: it’s pretty true-to-life.  She no longer draws me as she remembers me before cancer; she draws me as I am today. -My teeth: her friend lost a tooth at our house yesterday,...

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Things that matter

Jun 27

Dr. Wonderful asks, as he does at every appointment, “So Jen, have you noticed any changes after the last week or so?” “Well, I had some tingling after the last chemo for the first time.  That was cool.”  He nods.  “And I think it is a bit smaller, but I have a hard time assessing.  The biggest thing that I did was to send out a request...

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