The International Museum of Women (IMOW) has included a couple of images from my photography project about motherhood, now entitled “The Mother Half” (formerly “Momma Love”), in their current exhibition; “Mama- Motherhood Around the Globe”! There’s a lot of cool art from all around the world represented.

A VERY COOL online magazine about modern momma life called Momfilter (started by co-founders of Cookie Magazine) featured a week of Momma Love mommas in the run up to Mother’s Day in 2011! The editorial was beautiful and I was honored by it. Each morning a different woman from the project was featured as “momma of the day”, and a small blurb about their life as a mother accompanied their portrait.

You can see all the portraits and story excerpts on Momfilter here.

Well the holiday season is upon us… We’re sharing love with our families, mourning the loss of friends and family who we remember particularly at times like this, dealing with sick children on Christmas day, managing moods, feeling lucky, feeling disappointed, feeling excited to see the holidays through our children’s eyes… it’s an action packed, emotional time of year.

Soon we’ll be ringing in 2012 together. Some will enter cheering, others kicking and screaming. But we’re all going there together one way or another. May as well share a toast, ask for a shoulder to lean on if you need one, do our best and hope for the best.

The holidays have prompted me to write a “holiday-inspired” post on my Moms Rising blog which you can find here. (If you haven’t heard of Moms Rising, they’re very cool. Check out what they’re fighting for on the behalf of women and families.)

I hope all your holidays are special and meaningful and I’ll see you in the New Year!

Cheers!

(Harper as jolly old…)

Man Gives Birth During NYC Marathon

The Museum of Motherhood is a pop up one that Joy has fundraised for in order to open. If it flies between now and December, it will become a more permanent space.

What struck me was how moving it was to be in a room filled with mothers, and men who respect mothers, expressing themselves, through art, music and performance, about the things we’re all going through. I secretly kept choking up, surprised by how much I needed to be here commisserating, laughing and choking up with this group of people. I clearly needed to take the time out to reflect and to feel the weight and the joy and the pressure of the every day job of mothering, and this was a great opportunity to do that.

Erin Marra over at Lovesomeblog.com posted a really nice piece about Momma Love and expressed a question I’ve heard many times now. WHEN IS THIS BOOK COMING OUT?? Let me assure you I’ll shout it from the highest hills when it’s out. It’s definitely been a long, really great journey, during which the book has become much stronger and better, so I’m glad for the time it’s had to simmer.

Check out Lovesome here.

I’ve always wanted to take a sleeper train. It sounds so romantic. I never really envisioned it this way, with baby and tons of luggage. I think I imagined one neatly packed carry on which would include space for a rather hefty bottle of Scottish whiskey that Joshua and I would share as we alternatively watched the scenery whizz past and stared into each others’ eyes.

Caledonian Sleeper

(more photos below)

Despite being different than my fantasy, I have to say, the trip from England to Scotland on the sleeper train with baby and all was, in its own way, still quite romantic. The sway of the train while we slept, the dining car, where we did actually manage to share two mini-bar sized Glenfiddichs and a toast while Harper played with the whiskey containers…

Our berth was an intimidating 4 feet wide x 6 ½ feet long. I was relieved to find that the extensive therapy I’ve done to confront my at times debilitating claustrophobia paid off in spades and I was able to manage well. Joshua is something of a master at organizing and tucking things away in small spaces, and I am a master at stepping aside and allowing him to do so. So the room, although unbelievably tight for three, was actually quite cozy. Less cozy in actuality, although it sounded very sweet in theory, was the sleeping arrangement which had me snuggled with baby Harper onto a plank passing as a bed that had to have been no more than 2 ½ feet wide. Sleeping with a toddler starts off all warm and fuzzy. You stroke their hair. You feel their little chest rising and falling under your hand.  Feel their breath land gently on your cheek. You think “this is heaven! Why don’t I always do this?” About an hour in, you wake up to a foot in your throat and the sickly sweet smell of a sweaty baby’s head.

Joshua and I managed very well. Amidst it all, we only had three sharp and short lived pissy exchanges borne out of frustration and physical challenges. We generally enjoyed every second of it, feeling exhausted but quite accomplished when we arrived on the other end.

As I write this, I’m sitting in the dining car the morning after our equally successful, albeit somewhat less enjoyable, return trip from Fort William to London. This time the trip has been sandwiched between a 4 hour car ride and a pending 7 hour flight with no breaks in between thanks to a two hour middle of the night train breakdown that we only now found out about. Last night’s bunking with baby was much more challenging due to… I wish I knew. It’s just like that sometimes, I guess.  I woke feeling ten years older. I caught a glimpse of myself in the cabin’s absurdly thin sliver of a mirror upon baby Harper’s 5 am wake and cry fest and I thought “wow! Will I ever look rested again? I feel ancient, brittle, saggy.” After a couple more hours sleep, I feel better than I did at 5 am, but still far from rejuvenated.

But still, the view from the window is incredible and I still love the rocking of the train. And my time on the sleeper train with hubby and baby actually was quite romantic.

(Please forgive the fact that I call my 18 month old son my “18 year old son”. It’s the brain of a person with an 18 month old son talking…)