Posted by Barely Knit Together on Jan 20, 2010 in
Motherhood,
Writing
These are the things no one tells you:
The birthing is easy. It brings you to your knees, of course, if you do it right, and I don’t mean without meds because by god – it’s still a rending. It’s a splitting open, a metamorphosis, leaving the shell of your old self behind. You crawl out [...]
Tags: Motherhood, parenting
Posted by Barely Knit Together on Aug 19, 2009 in
The Soap Box
This is an open letter to teenagers. I know they won’t read it. And if they do, they probably won’t really get it for a while yet. But maybe if I put something incendiary in here, it will capture their attention just long enough to lodge in their brains and be remembered at some later [...]
Tags: growing up, high school, nostalgia, parenting, teenagers
I have had many, many jobs.
I have been a gas station attendant, a dish washer, a car washer, a book store clerk, an art store clerk, an environmental department cubicle dweller, an analytical lab tech chemist type person, a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker. But the last three I don’t get paid for, since [...]
Tags: daily grind, i just wanted to be famous while i could still enjoy it, mommy, parenting, professional, she works hard for the money, work
Posted by Barely Knit Together on Jun 24, 2009 in
Motherhood
I’m referencing a post by my bloggie friend Betty, who inspired this response.
We all feel inept and bumbling when it comes to parenting, but most people are afraid to say it. We pretend we know “the answer” or “the way,” so that we can put our minds at ease that we will turn out people [...]
Tags: "the perfect parent", bad mother, letting go, love, Motherhood, parenting, raising children
Posted by Barely Knit Together on May 10, 2009 in
A Bit on the Dark Side,
Motherhood
Dear Daughter,
I hope you’ll forgive me for so public a display as this. Maybe you’ll never even see it. If it does what I hope it will, you will instead receive a hand-written letter of apology and remorse from me.
See, I’m so used to typing, it’s hard to sit and write. But maybe this habitual [...]
Tags: dysfunction, mental illness, Motherhood, mothers day, parenting, screwing up, teens
Interestingly, my biggest motivator and friend, Melissa, is also celebrating her 100th post TODAY! I guess we both started taking our writing more seriously about the same time, only she was much more disciplined than I was for a while. Then she started nursing school, and with four kids and a husband to take care [...]
Tags: 100th post, funny, humor, Motherhood, parenting, roundup
Yesterday I got to laugh a bit while taking a break from writing about depression when I came across Her Bad Mother’s post about house cleaning.
I’ve been pretty clear about my skills in that area, but I haven’t been what you might call…transparent. She posted pictures!
So in a show of solidarity (and maybe just a [...]
Tags: bad housekeeping, homekeeping, Motherhood, parenting
Posted by Barely Knit Together on Mar 20, 2009 in
A Bit on the Dark Side,
Mental Stability,
Motherhood
I finished my story, and posted it over on Blogher.
I’m not thrilled with it, just like everything else I do. There’s more to tell, more to sort through, more to figure out. I want to be able to tell you I am all better, but I’m not there yet.
PPD can disguise itself as normal parenting [...]
Tags: antidepressants, Breastfeeding, depression, medications and breastfeeding, Motherhood, parenting, postpartum depression, ppd, weaning
Posted by Barely Knit Together on Mar 17, 2009 in
Breastfeeding,
Mental Stability,
Motherhood
I have turned this topic around and around in my head over the last few days. And now several bloggers have beat me to the punch.
But that’s okay, because I’ve decided to take a slightly different direction with it. I want to talk about medications used to treat depression, anxiety, irritability, anger, and suicidal ideation, [...]
Tags: Breastfeeding, depression, medications and breastfeeding, Motherhood, parenting, postpartum depression, ppd
Posted by Barely Knit Together on Mar 14, 2009 in
A Bit on the Dark Side,
Mental Stability
Sometimes, late at night, when it’s dark and quiet and I’m completely alone at last, I think: maybe I should never have had children.
And my heart clenches and I start to cry and I want to argue with myself that it’s not true, but there is some little, hard, honest place inside of me that [...]
Tags: borderline personality disorder, depression, honesty, jesus, love, Motherhood, parenting, self harm, self injury, truth