Allie, my five-year-old, watches me from the kitchen table. “How can you carry both things?” she asks. Her big brown eyes are wide. “Moms can carry lots of things,” I say, holding a box of Rice Krispies in one hand and a gallon of…

“I was a high school counselor before I got married.” “I have a master’s degree.” Years ago, I sometimes found myself trying to drop these sentences into conversations. I wasn’t necessarily trying to brag. But as a new mom in a new place who…

This is my first summer as a mom of three, and I feel like I’m failing. The smell of burnt hamburger fills the room, intensified by my baby’s sobs from the playmat on the floor. My shoulders rise; the tension is palpable. “I know,…

I’m tired. And I know the crew is too. I hate how easily I snap at the kids at this point of harvest. In the brief moments when Rich is home, all three kids climb all over him, clambering for his attention. I usually…

The school supply list has been printed off and sitting on my desk for the last month. I’ve been a little excited about getting to shop for two kids this fall for back-to-school. Partly because I felt like Allie would be excited to pick…

“Mom, when’s she gonna be bigger?” Allie asked, looking at Nora. “What do you mean? She is big! And getting bigger every day!” I said, already defensive with Nora’s birthday only a few days away. “No, she’s not,” Allie insisted.  On that day, I…

When I married a farmer, I didn’t realize one of my biggest roles would be feeding people. Years ago, Rich occasionally showed up at the house before noon, asking, “Could you make the guys lunch?” Now, I anticipate before he even asks. There are…

I unload the last box from my car and close the door to the apartment behind me. Turning back, I remember to lock the deadbolt, then collapse on the floor between the boxes.  My mom walks into the living room, “Well, it’s all in!…

Recently, a fellow farm wife asked me, “Was marrying a farmer what you expected?”  I thought back to the summer before my farmer and I were married. In the evening after work, I would drive out to the farm, park my car, and hop…

Mediocre • / me·di·o·cre/ˌmēdēˈōkər/ adjective: mediocre 1. of only moderate quality; not very good. // Since I became a mom of three, most days, I would describe myself as mediocre. All the other moms in my life appear to have more patience; they do…