blogging

How to be a proper “mommy blogger”.

May 1, 2013

I have just finished watching all three first seasons of Downton Abbey. It took about three episodes of season one to hook me, but after that I was a goner. It really is a very well written, acted and produced show and I am looking forward to season 4. I was drawn to the show for a few different reasons. One, EVERYONE and their well-bred dogs kept going on and on about it and so I had to see what all the fuss was about. Two, I have a secret obsession with all kinds of historical dramas set in England (I am a quarter British BTW). I have seen the Elizabeth movies about five times each, I am a huge fan of The Tudors, and this just seemed to fit in with the whole genre. And three, my maternal grandmother (the British part of me) was a governess for...

On motherhood: the ultimate vulnerability.

April 22, 2013

By Natasha

On motherhood: the ultimate vulnerability.

I had coffee with a friend the other day. A pregnant friend who is in that “second-trimester, starting to feel uncomfortable in her own changing body, slightly grumpy about the restrictions it is placing on her” friend. We are relatively new friends (and yes, we did “meet” via social media), but our stories are quite similar. She could be me seven years ago. A woman in her mid-30′s with a burgeoning career, life experiences and accomplishments that she is proud of and someone who is pretty sure of who she is in this world. And she is afraid. Afraid of what becoming a mother means. Afraid of losing herself to this new role in her life. Afraid of following in the footsteps of the mothers in her life, who became wholly consumed by motherhood and whom she feels lost all of who they were before then. So I told...

the ordinary life of a {closet} loner

April 2, 2013

By Natasha

This is what I love doing. I am sitting alone at one end of a dining room table that can easily sit 10-12 people. A cup of tea to my right and the Tar Beach Lullabies playlist from Songza playing on my iPad to my left and my sleeping pup at my feet (keeping them warm). The lights are mostly off and I am writing by the glow of my laptop and the still light dusk of a Northern Alberta spring night. Today, I took my children to a birthday party at one of those jumpy castle play place establishments that are all the rage these days. I knew most of the parents and kids at the party and while it was nice to visit with everyone, I felt this strange urge to escape from this social situation. I wanted to hightail it out of there and run off for...

keep calm and carry on

March 11, 2013

By Natasha

I started writing something last night and three hours in my husband had to stop me because I had started weeping. It was the kind of crying where the tears are like a leaking faucet and they just don’t stop. It wasn’t pretty. I am not sure what triggered this kind of response from me. Perhaps it was the culmination of a long and trying week. Maybe it was PMS. Might have been the 2, 4, 6, shot I don’t know, but look at the mess I am in…. {Sorry, couldn’t help myself.} In the end, I kept the post. It’s one for the private vault. Just for me, to read again when I need that kind of purge. The problem is that all day I have been analyzing my feelings about it and keep coming back to this part. I have moments lately where I look at myself...

#40silverlinings: Vet bills, zombies and Taylor swift

March 4, 2013

By Natasha

Some days the silver linings are harder to see. I haven’t posted anything since last week. We have been busy. The kids had Thursday and Friday off because of teacher’s convention and we had a lot going on. I know the silver linings were there, I just had to look really hard for them through the fog of the migraine that I had for two days and a road trip on my own with two kids. #17. A new vet who actually gave me some answers and proper treatment for my poor puppy’s infected ears! #18. My kids deciding to sing along to all songs on the radio these days and how cute C sounds when he is singing Maroon 5′s ‘Daylight’ and the hilariousness of my 4 year old daughter belting out “We are never, ever, ever, getting back together!”. #19. Getting to know my step-mother (my late...

motherhood mountaineering

February 19, 2013

By Natasha

Why is it that every few months someone gets it in their head to go on a rant against motherhood? It’s as if these people forget that they actually have mothers and in most cases are themselves mothers too. This week’s target was none other than ‘the mommy blogger’. Her crime you ask? Taking feminism a step back because she has discovered a hidden talent for making crafts out of paint swatches or finding the best homemade organic baby food mix for her fussy little eater and subsequently blogging about it. In her Huffpo piece this past week, Amana Manori of The Purple Fig says that the problem (as she sees it) is this: “… many of these blogs perpetuate gender stereotypes and generalize female behaviour. Intentionally or unintentionally, many mommy bloggers do one of two things. First, many mommy bloggers may be living very fulfilling and well-rounded lives...

It’s not you, it’s me

January 16, 2013

By Natasha

Today had the potential to be such a good day. And I needed a good day. REALLY BADLY. And then… Well. It was not. . . . . . Let me back up a few days. On Saturday, January 12, 2013, with myself, my sister, my brother and his wife surrounding him with as much love as we could, my father passed away from complications of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s Disease). I have written about our reconnection and how bittersweet this whole process has been for both of us. Time, the one thing we needed, was the one thing we really did not have. He was suffering and now I know he is not. We had a brief moment on Friday to talk and forgive each other before his level of consciousness prevented him from having further conversations. Given the situation, I am at peace with that and I can...

natural urban mama grows up

December 19, 2012

By Natasha

As with anything creative, change is inevitable. ~Enya I am in the last few weeks of my 40th year. It has been a very interesting year to say the least. A lot has happened in my life, both personally and professionally these last 11 and a half months. At the end of January 2012, after much deliberation and soul-searching, I closed my online retail business to focus my time and efforts on my family and myself. It was a bittersweet decision, but one that I do not regret in any way. In April of 2012 we moved into our new Natural Urban Home. A house that we designed, that we put our hearts and souls into and that we continue to imbue with the spirit of our family every day. In one week we will have our first Christmas morning in this house and I have to admit that...

I am not weak.

November 20, 2012

By Natasha

I am having a quicksand week. Or perhaps month. I started noticing it more after the time change. My kids were a mess and more so than ever, I was a mess. And I still am. I am tired. Bone weary, not sure I should be driving some days, can’t keep a thought in my head tired. And I am irritable. I blame it on the tiredness, but I know it is more than that. I know I am disconnected from my life, from the people and things that are important to me. The schedule gets followed and I keep going, but there is little joy in it these days. This is all leaving me with the slowly sinking into quicksand feeling. I can’t struggle, because it will only make it worse. I will only get more tired and more irritable and I’ll yell even more and grind my...

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blogging

On motherhood: the ultimate vulnerability.

the ordinary life of a {closet} loner

keep calm and carry on

#40silverlinings: Vet bills, zombies and Taylor swift

motherhood mountaineering

It’s not you, it’s me

natural urban mama grows up

I am not weak.

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