• Last updated 4/7/13 by AdinaL

And it’s only Tuesday. In other words, kinda crazy around here. In addition to our regularly scheduled production work on the May–June issue of the magazine, we’ve been in various stages of birthing Mothering Radio, an audio version of the mag, a mobile version of the web site, Mothering-topic-related phone apps, several new reprints of time-honored favorite articles, and more. But it’s all good. Exciting times to be working here. Just gotta strap ourselves in for the ride . . . # Photo by Steve Steigman. You might be too young... read more

• Last updated 3/11/13 by Momsteader

Lisa Kogan is probably most well-known for writing a monthly column on her “perfectly imperfect life” (single motherhood, writing, friendships and family) for O Magazine. I have her new book in front of me, a copy provided by Harper Collins as a reader giveaway. So, leave a comment telling us who your favorite mama author is and why, and I will enter your name in a drawing and pick the lucky winner on Monday, March 22. Subscribe to the Mothering.com Blogs Feed ... read more

• Last updated 3/11/13 by Momsteader

We were just plotzing over prefolds at Mothering HQ. I received a 4-pack of organic cotton “Giggle Better Basics” prefolds–an Under the Nile exclusive. Dooood. I used to cloth-diaper my boy (and now he’s almost 6) and the prefolds were…fine..you know…the broken-in white t-shirts of my diaper selection. They were great everyday staples. And I also had other favorites that had the cutest print, or the sweetest design, or were incredibly reliable. But these prefolds are like the ultra-high-thread count Egyptian cotton sheets one would encounter in a super-fancy... read more

• Last updated 4/7/13 by AdinaL

* *It feels a little like cheating to post a photo with no words as a blog entry. But what can one say that comes anywhere near the wonder one feels when encountering such a tiny, fuzzy, squeaky, wide-eyed life? Photo: Reeve spends time with the first of our five kittens to open its eyes. # # Tags: eyes open, kitten, reeve This entry was posted on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 9:09 pm and is filed under living, miracles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both... read more

• Last updated 3/11/13 by Momsteader

I am sitting here, in total bliss, as I have just sampled organic Sjaak’s chocolate. People. I ate a dark-chocolate lavender truffle in the shape of a heart, wrapped in purple shiny foil. And I really can’t spell. You wouldn’t believe how much I’ve had to fix errors. My brain does not want to bother itself with SPELLING right now. Someone should run tests on how chocolate interferes with other comparatively dreary brain functions. I am giving away a Sjaak’s Vegan, Organic “Limited Edition Bunny Truffle Gift Box.” Nine chocolates. One each of the following:... read more

• Last updated 3/13/10 by Laura E Taylor

You know how certain photos kind of reach out and grab you in the gut? maybe give you a haunting sense of loss? or wonder at the passing of time? Well, lo and behold, there’s a word for that. Punctum. Roland Barthes was fascinated by the way he was consistently emotionally affected by a photo of his late mother as a child; he explored this phenomenon in Camera Lucida, his 1980 book about the essence of photography. Here’s what he had to say, first about what he calls studium, then about punctum: “What I feel about these photographs derives from an average effect, almost... read more

• Last updated 4/7/13 by AdinaL

Ever had one of those dreams where you suddenly realize you just had a baby? Didn’t even know you were pregnant, maybe gave birth in the bathroom, like those stories of uneducated high school girls who went to the loo with a tummy ache and then Shazam! New baby!)? That’s kind of the feeling around here since Friday night, when Twombly, the feral kitten who came in the back door in June, gave birth to five kittens in the quiet dusty dark beneath Reeve’s bed. We hadn’t realized she was pregnant til last week. (Hadn’t even realized she was female til... read more

• Last updated 3/1/10 by Laura E Taylor

Happy March—or, as we say around here, Rabbit! And with the new month comes a new issue: Mothering March–April 2010 is now on the stands. For the cover, St. Louis Photographer Laura Siebert snapped this photo of two-and-a-half-year-old Merus Kennedy playing peekaboo with a down comforter in Siebert’s St. Louis studio. Check out more of Siebert’s  here. # # # # # # # # # # # Tags: 159, cover, Laura Siebert, March–April 2010 ... read more

• Last updated 3/11/13 by Momsteader

I have 5 Couples Retreat DVD movies to give away. All you have to do is be one of the first five commenters who answers the following question: What is your romantic relationship tip? It can be in the category of “the secret to my successful relationship” or in the loved and lost category: “I learned this the hard way and hindsight is 20/20″ . COUPLES RETREAT IS ON BLU-RAY HI DEF & DVD FEBRUARY 9! Subscribe to the Mothering.com Blogs Feed ... read more

• Last updated 3/14/13 by mamazee

So I was wandering around the arts and crafts store yesterday, trying to come up with a valentine craft for Honoree, my second grader. Last year, I thought we were pretty darn fancy with our valentines made out of paper doilies. Each kid got a wee heart-shaped eraser, too. But H. came home with an assortment of valentines and a bit of a long face. There was the felted valentine, the quilted valentine, the knitted valentine, the fired-ceramic valentine. I may be exaggerating a little bit, but…you get the picture. Normally I would say, “Hey, kid, we’re not getting... read more