and the winner is....

Thank you all so much for your wonderful haiku! It has been such a relief to be able to step out of my book-induced stress haze and read your poetry! Thank you for your words!


Now I'm turning it over to the talented and fabulous Caroline Grant, Editor-in-Chief of Literary Mama, co-editor of Mama PhD and the judge of this year's Mother Words' Haiku Contest. Welcome, Caroline!! 


***

Mother Words Haiku contest: surprise!

When I was in third or fourth grade, my schoolteacher introduced us to Matsuo Basho's haiku. We were all asked to choose one to illustrate, so I picked one about daffodils and copied it out in fancy script, surrounding the letters with flowers and a purplish Mt. Fuji looming in the background. I thought then, and thought for years afterward, that haiku had to be serious, had to be about the natural world, and -- if I'd been honest with you -- had to be dull.

I love that Kate hosts an annual Mother Words haiku contest because I can appreciate haiku now in a way I wasn't able to when I was ten. It's the perfect form for mothers, really. We spend so much time with our children, playing with and observing them, but in some profound ways we're also left quite alone with our own thoughts (because after the first ten dozen games of Candyland, who's really paying attention anymore?) We could let our minds wander to grocery lists and the movies we want to see -- and of course often we do -- but with this nudge from Kate, we can let our minds wander in a more creative way, distilling our days down to their essence, finding a way to make these moments funny or poignant, finding a way to translate these solitary moments into something universal. So I applaud all of the writers who entered the contest; you made it so hard for me, I wrote a haiku about it:

This morning's challenge:

Judging a haiku contest

Hard to pick just one.

I'm drawn first to the funny ones, which happened to fall into two categories: toilet-related and not. For instance, Ironmom's, which made me laugh out loud:

OK, diapers, sure.

But this is ridiculous.

There's poop everywhere!

Or Suze's haiku, called Sammy's Take on Toilet Training, which took me right back to those days when my son would lurk behind the couch:

Oh! I'm not hiding.

I DON'T need to poop right now,

Just...don't...look...at...meee

Stace-c and I share the same reaction to a diaper haz-mat situation:

Treasured baby wear,

After blowout, your new home

Is in garbage can.

Then in the funny but non-toilet related category we have Mary, who cracks me up with a title longer than the haiku:

"When Your 18 Year Old Shares the Blessed News at His High School Lunch Table"

A new baby now

So you and Dad still do it

My lunch crowd's grossed out

Or Andrea's:

Total silence from

Ultrasound technician, then,

"Did they suspect twins?"

Speaking of twins, Stace-c offers another:

Safety gates be damned!

Twins can open anything

Teamwork starts at birth.

Moving away from humor, I loved the haiku that made me nod (or wince) in recognition, like Patty's:

Words snap from my mouth:

"Because I said so, that's why!"

who have I become?

And Claire's:

Who would have thought it?

Grocery shopping alone.

This old chore's a gift.

And kqchristopherson's:

Just one more minute

Please can I have attention?

Yes, my trying love

A couple writers contributed bittersweet haiku, like "Sluiter Nation," who wrote:

depression sneaks in

warm and soft my baby boy

i don't deserve him

And Pia:

My deep fear, Autism.

Isn't as bad as I dreamed

My little man glows

And Merle targets childhood's powerful emotions:

Daily five-year-old's rage

leaves dead and wounded feelings.

Remorseful kisses.

As the editor of Mama, PhD (one of the prizes in this contest) of course I have to give props to Lara, whose haiku is titled Motherhood Surprise:

Redefine passion!

Ambassador skills advance

my new PhD

Some of my favorites capture a moment of family life, like this beautiful one, vivid as a photograph, from Francesca, titled "Lemonade Stand":

Lunchtime, balmy day
Lemonade, rice krispy treats
Fifty cents a pop

Carrie submitted a set of four haiku that moves chronologically through her family's transformation, and I particularly loved the second for its evocation of a time now passed in my family:

Attempt at homeschool

Toddlers, naked, too much fun

Roll in olive oil

But ultimately, my favorite is one that's neither funny nor poignant but simply gets at the heart of what has been one surprise in motherhood for me: setting aside (sometimes far aside) a clean house and tidy spaces to join my children where they are, creatively, and finding such happiness there:

Give me board books strewn

and dripping, bright paint projects—

mess!—a sign of joy.

I love the spirited language, the alliteration, and the vivid details in this haiku, and most of all the deep pleasure it conveys. If Emily Dickinson wrote motherhood haiku, I think she would have written like this. So congratulations to Sarah, and thank you for inspiring me to get out the art supplies with my kids today.

 ***

Congratulations to all of you! Sarah, I'll e-mail your Amazon gift card and send your address to Caroline for the book!!

it's time, again

(I posted this yesterday, but it vanished. I’ve no idea why.)

Spring has been slow in coming to Minnesota this year, but finally, it's here. The plants in the garden have begun to fill out, the grass is green, and even our spindly Maple in the front yard has sprouted leaves. All of this means that it is time, yet again, for the annual Mother Words haiku contest.

For those of you who are new to Mother Words, I launched the annual contest in 2008, when Zoë was just a couple of months old and I developed a raging case of mastitis. D was traveling, so I was on my own, juggling an infant and a four-year-old. It wasn’t pretty, people. You can read more about that here.

But from my experience with mastitis, the annual Mother Words haiku contest was born.

This year, the subject of the haiku contest will be (drumroll please): surprise. What has surprised you most about motherhood? What surprises you about parenting your specific child? (Take this any direction you like.)

I’m very excited to announce that Caroline Grant, editor-in-chief of Literary Mama and co-editor of the wonderful anthology Mama PhD, has agreed to be the judge this year. And in addition to the $10 amazon gift card that I’ll send to the winner, Caroline will send a copy of Mama PhD!

I love funny haiku, but anything goes. Just remember 5 - 7 - 5. Put your haiku in the comments section below. The deadline is Monday, May 23^rd!

Come on and haiku today!

it's time

Spring has been slow in coming to Minnesota this year, but finally, it's here. The plants in the garden have begun to fill out, the grass is green, and even our spindly Maple in the front yard has sprouted leaves.

All of this means that it is time, yet again, for the annual Mother Words haiku contest. Whoop! Whoop!


For those of you who are new to Mother Words, I launched the annual contest in 2008 when Zoë was just a couple of months old and I developed a raging case of mastitis. D was traveling, so I was on my own, juggling an infant and a four-year-old. It wasn’t pretty, people. You can read more about that here.

But from my experience with mastitis, the annual Mother Words haiku contest was born. And now, I'd like to introduce the topic of the 4th Annual Mother Mother Words haiku contest. (Drum roll please.)

Topic: Surprise. What is the thing that has surprised you most about motherhood? About being a parent? About parenting your specific child/children? (Anything along these lines...)

I am happy to announce that Caroline Grant, editor-in-chief of Literary Mama and co-editor of the wonderful anthology Mama, PhD, will be the judge this year. And in addition to the $10 Amazon gift card that I provide to the winner, Caroline has offered to donate a copy of Mama PhD. So get your haiku pants on and start writing.

I love funny haiku, but anything goes. Just remember, it has to be 5 - 7 - 5. Post your haiku as a comment below by Monday, May 23rd. 

Haiku! Haiku! Haiku! Come on and haiku today! (Clearly I've been spending a little too much time alone in my office...) 

happy mother's day!

Stella came into our room this morning and said, "Happy Mother's Day, Mama." 


"Thanks, sweetie," I said and looked at the clock. It was 5:30 a.m. 


"I'll just snuggle with you for a while," she said, and she climbed into bed next to me. I fell back to sleep, but a few minutes later, she said, "I think I'm awake. I'll go down and watch T.V." 


"Okay, sweetie."


I slept until 8:30 and then D and the girls brought up strawberries, a croissant, and a vase of brilliant orange Gerbera daisies. The girls had each made cards and presents: Zoe gave me a framed hand-print with all of the things she loves to do traced around her fingers; Stella gave me a Marigold that she grew at school. So dear!


I hope you are all having a wonderful Mother's Day! I so appreciate this community of mothers and writers and friends. Thank you for being who you are!!! Happy Mother's Day!

free creative nonfiction workshop

I’ll be teaching a free two-hour Introduction to Creative Nonfiction workshop in conjunction with The Loft Literary Center at the Prior Lake Library on May 12^th as part of Scott County Libraries’ Inkslingers: Writers in the Libraries program.

Come try your hand at creative nonfiction. We’ll be discussing the basics of creative nonfiction, doing a few writing exercises, and generally having fun. What’s not to love about that? It’s free, but you must register. Here are the details:

When: Thu 5/12, 6:30 - 8:30 p.m.

Where: Prior Lake Library, 16210 Eagle Creek Ave SE, Prior Lake, MN

To Register: Call 952-447-3375

Space limited. Call now. 

an update and an essay

Thank you all for your thoughts and good wishes for my grandpa. He has done the seemingly impossible and bounced back at 102 years old. On Friday afternoon he had a pacemaker put in, and he felt so good after the surgery that he wanted a plate of BBQ ribs. “I know I’m talking too much,” he said, “but I just feel so damn good.”

On Saturday he was transferred to a nursing home where he’ll do physical therapy and grow stronger before he goes home. (And then he’ll get regular blood transfusions to keep him from becoming anemic again. There is some internal bleeding, but he didn’t want to have any invasive procedures to discover the source of bleeding. A wise choice.)

Yesterday he said that the difference between some of the people at the home and him was that they were there waiting to die, and he was there to get stronger so he could live. He’s truly remarkable, and has already charmed the whole staff.

So, there’s that. And I’m grateful for the extra time with him.

But truthfully, most of my time (and my emotional energy) these last days has been focused on the book and getting permissions for the excerpts and essays I use as examples. What a process—a huge process—but one that will make the book what I want it to be.

I probably won’t be writing long posts here for the next few weeks, but I’ll pop in and let you know how the looming deadline is affecting my mental health.

Today, instead of any more of my own words, I want to leave you with this wonderful new Literary Mama essay by Lisa Catherine Harper. Her wonderful new memoir, A Double Life: Discovering Motherhood, is just out from University of Nebraska Press. My review of it will appear in Literary Mama this summer, and I also hope to have Lisa as a guest here at Mother Words in the coming months (after June 1^st). Enjoy her wonderful piece!