Here’s an anecdote…
A woman gets a tattoo with her name on it. There’s a deep symbolic meaning as to why she got it. (As all tattoos should be!)
This woman then proceeds to become a mother three times. Her body is pulled and stretched in many miraculous directions. After the birth of her third child, she notices that the ink has also shifted, and her name is no longer legible. She’s distraught.
While I totally can appreciate the dismay at the lost artwork (I have four tats of my own), I would like to lovingly suggest to remember that you have created works of art in your own right, far more precious than what happened in that parlor next to the stainless steel gauges.
Always the poet, I see another symbolism in the fact that it was her name that got distorted. Yes, she knows what it was, but it’s changed.
Doesn’t that happen to you when you become a parent? Yes, you still remember your old self, but once you have children, you are never again the same. Like that misshapen tattoo, our essential self is indelible. We retain our essence throughout our lives. However, our parenting selves cause us to view — and be viewed by — the world in a new way.
So if “Ashley” morphs into “Maybe” or “Michael” is deciphered as “Nipple,” I’d look to the deep metaphor that like a tattoo, our children mark us forever.
Make the #153Promise to celebrate the way your children have changed your ink.
-Kisses! XxXx
February is Black History Month, a teacher at my school helped to create a poetry project. She and another adult at one of our sister high schools made an all-call for poetry regarding our own family history. I don’t want to put words in their mouths, but I think their objective for the project was to go beyond race to embrace everyone’s history.
If your child is over 18, then they are an adult and can apply pretty much anywhere, as long as they meet the job description requirements.
I woke up this morning and found 
A few days ago, my son then added a new perspective on Jesus when he exclaimed, “Jesus looks like a kite.” Okay… that’s getting waaaay out of the box, but I totally see how he came up with that… I can only imagine what Jesus is going to do next in the eyes of my son.
T minus four days and counting… The “holiday” that gets men in a panic and parents in a bind.
I had a phone conference with my publisher a little over a week ago and he said something that really stuck in my craw- he questioned that I am a legitimate expert regarding kids’ issues.
So yeah… I think being a teacher makes me an expert.
I like to think of it this way… Do you know that famous saying adopted from the Native American culture, “Don’t judge a person until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes”? Well, I am a very literal person, so that means that I STOLE their shoes! (Also meaning it’s impossible to know 100% what ANOTHER person must feel.) Instead, I like to think of it as:
When was the last time you were smaller than everybody else? When was the last time you had almost ZERO control over your circumstances? When was the last time someone ELSE paid your rent/mortgage and held it against you? Or chose what you had to eat? Or wear?
If Google gives an example using healthy families, I must be onto something.
A "Trauma-Free Parenting" Initiative 