Tag: mamihood

About Me, Family, Inspirational, Love, Mamihood, Personal, The Mami Chronicles

A Mother’s Letter to Her Daughter on Her 1st Birthday (for Alexah)

It takes 365 days for the Earth to complete its orbit around the sun. Today signifies the completion of your first revolution. The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is 92.96 million miles. The average distance between a dream and its manifestation is the number of times your knees have bled while clinging to the ground in prayer. You are my greatest prayer manifested in human form and for the rest of my life I will remember this moment, and be grateful that you chose me to be the vessel to bring you into this world. Continue reading A Mother’s Letter to Her Daughter on Her 1st Birthday (for Alexah)

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Family, Inspirational, Love, Mamihood, Personal, Poems, The Mami Chronicles

The Mamí Chronicles: The Gift of Mothering

I watch you in the morning while you are sleeping. I prepare my altar carefully so not to disturb you. I burn sage to remove unwanted spirits. They say this is how you keep the evil away. The smoke fills the air. The faint light of dawn creeps through the window highlighting the softness of your face. The stillness of the room interrupted only by … Continue reading The Mamí Chronicles: The Gift of Mothering

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Family, Inspirational, Love, Mamihood, Personal, Writing

Overcoming Setbacks: Dealing with loss and how we recover

The red stain on my underwear pierced my eyes. It was the one thing I had not envisioned, yet here I was living my worst nightmare. I’ve never experienced this before so I don’t know what to expect. Yesterday there was a light stain and today too. Everything that I’ve read says that I should be experiencing cramping and that the blood will come in clots. Chunks of my deepest desire flowing through me like a poison releasing itself from my body. That’s what a miscarriage is. It is an abnormality in the fetus. The chromosomes didn’t split properly. Proof that what I believed was my miracle really wasn’t. Continue reading Overcoming Setbacks: Dealing with loss and how we recover

Nancy Arroyo Ruffin5 Comments
Family, Mamihood, Personal, The Mami Chronicles, Writing

(The Mami Chronicles) The Curse of Bendito: How to raise confident kids

The worst thing parents and care takers can do to their children, in my opinion, is to feel sorry for them. As a Brooklyn born Puertoriqueña, I call it the curse of the “bendito”. In my family we have used the term bendito way too many times. From when little Juan falls and scrapes his knee to when Doña Maria’s roof caves in from a tropical storm. The phrase is used in pretty much every situation to denote sympathy or frustration and while some things do garner sympathy the truth is that there will be many experiences we have no control over. We have to teach our children how to rise above their circumstances. Continue reading (The Mami Chronicles) The Curse of Bendito: How to raise confident kids

Nancy Arroyo Ruffin4 Comments
Mamihood, Personal, The Mami Chronicles

The Mamí Chronicles: Potty Training Your Toddler

Potty training has  to be one of the most stressful tasks for both toddler and parent. If you’re new to this like I am then you know how difficult it can be to have your child transition from the comfort and security of a diaper to the potty. Though your friends and family may share with you what has worked for them know that there’s no … Continue reading The Mamí Chronicles: Potty Training Your Toddler

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About Me, Mamihood, Personal

(The Mamí Chronicles) Night Terrors, Toddlers, & What you should know

I’d wake from my sleep and find her in her room standing in her crib, eyes wide open and full of tears. When I’d reach out to hold her or console her the screaming and crying got worse. It was as if she’d seen a monster and I was it. It was the most terrifying thing I’d ever experienced. As her mother, my first instinct was to try and soothe her, but everything I did just made it worse. Continue reading (The Mamí Chronicles) Night Terrors, Toddlers, & What you should know

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