Joy in the Journey

Tips for Depression I wrote a blog recently about struggling with and the daylight hours changing (see that blog HERE ). So, today I wanted to share with you some tips for depression (whether seasonal or not). I love my Aunt. I've learned so many lessons from her. She half-raised my siblings and I and imparted so much wisdom and flair along the way. My Aunt struggles with depression. I never noticed as I kid, I just remember her talking about.  I remember her saying "When you feel depressed, you don't want to anything, but doing things anyway , because doing things you enjoy helps with depression." I guess, I stored this information away somewhere because I never forgot it, though it wasn't till much later that I pulled it out to put in use. I only had one true bought of depression and that was over ten years ago. But now, I just struggle with times of feeling depressed, usually triggered by feeling overwhelmed or by the seasonal changes. "Do

Yesterday was my fourth child’s fourth birthday! I’m writing this ahead of time, so of course I can’t tell you how it went. But thinking about his upcoming birthday has made me think a lot about our journey together so far. It has not been an easy one.  My pregnancy with him was the hardest of all my pregnancies. I was in a LOT of pain while carrying him, and a LOT of pain after he was born, too. I had surgery when he was about 8 months old, but that didn't take the pain away. (you can learn more about that here ) In short, my son has never known a time when his mother wasn't in some level of pain. Before I experienced chronic pain, I had no idea how it could affect the bonding process between a mother and her baby. You see, chronic pain messes with your brain. It is associated with reduction in gray matter, which can lead to impaired cognitive  abilities, memory impairment, and emotional problems. It also messes with hormonal balance.  When I was carrying my four

We went to our local museum the other day.  I've been listening to a historical fiction audiobook about the Oregon Trail, as well as reading a book of short true stories from that point in history. The combination has encouraged a lot of sharing with my kids about the tough people and incredible challenges our ancestors faced.  This discussion led us to revisit our museum. We walked around, looked at things, discussed, and then explored further. We learned about the pioneers and got excited about a door on display that was full of bullet holes from an Indian attack! We were thrilled to see some of the old weapons as well. All in all it was exciting and fun. But then we played!  We went to were they had an old covered wagon to look at, a small store full of supplies, and old cookery to play with. My girls got right to work gathering plastic food from the store barrels and "cooking" food in the large cast iron pot. We played pioneers on the trail. Not only d

The other day I was sorting laundry with the baby on the bed. He was laying on his back and I was standing and working my way through the pile when I suddenly noticed that he was smiling at me. So I turned my face to look at him and it made him jump. He was surprised. He hadn’t been smiling at me to get my attention, he was just admiring me.  Isn’t it sweet how our babies adore us? I’ve talked about body image in the past, but I feel like it should be revisited.  We women are so hard on ourselves about the way we look. We shouldn't be!  When our babies look at us, they don't see belly rolls and stretch marks and saggy boobs. They see the lady who feeds and comforts and cares for them. They don't notice the dark circles under our eyes or the wrinkles or the messy hair. They remember the one who sat up with them when they had a nightmare or got sick or had growing pains in the middle of the night.  You don't need to look like a super