Mini Shadows
Do your kids ever leave you alone?
I told myself that I’d do lots of art and story writing during maternity and parental leave. With husband taking the baby for half the day for a year, how could it not be possible.
Yeah, no.
I don’t know why I was so behind everyone else. I’d read about these women who were making art in one arm and drawing on the other but I never quite managed to do it. One woman on Threads said that she wrote a WHOLE SCREENPLAY during her 3-month maternity leave.
Maybe if someone had put a gun to my head or dangled a large sum of money I would’ve kicked myself into high gear but that’s just not how it happened. The brain fog was very real for me and I couldn’t bring myself to concentrate on anything other than my new little, new family dynamic, and the fact that these days were moving too fast.
BUT I think I’m ready to get back on this horse so here I am.
I don’t quite have an agenda with this substack other than I just want to share and trade human experiences with words and doodles. There are lots of fun things about being human but my favourite is this:
You share a story or ask a question. Someone’s eyes get big, and if they’re more expressive they might start pointing their finger or waving hands. They pause a little before exclaiming “Omg yes!!! Absolutely!!” Or they cry, pause for a little longer, or chuckle. They CoNnEcT.
Humans are oddballs, funny, fascinating, and so much cringe. I’m one of them and boy do I have lots of these in my life to share. Stay please!
On the vein of having littles and funny moments. Here’s a fun one about watching my sister who became a mother before me.
Since becoming a mom, it’s been even more fun to talk to her to connect on the charm of children, and our widening perspectives on life.
But the chief pleasure is getting sneak peeks of the stages ahead with her little boys. The older one is now 4 and is forever hamming it up whenever my sister and I chat. He really is like Peter Pan’s shadow to his mom.
The below is based on a true story— once upon a time on a kitchen call.
