The Runaway Mama by Jen Gregory

I write about all facets of motherhood on this blog, but it’s true (alert the media!) that I have a five-year-old child with sensory processing disorder.  He also has green eyes, a big smile, and a wicked sense of humor, he’s beyond bright, he gives great hugs, he loves to spell, he loves math (which just about kills me on a daily basis), he’s a great swimmer, and he’s compassionate way beyond his years.  In my spare time, I’m also the mother of a smart, stubborn, and squishy three-year-old boy who has the bluest eyes you’ve ever seen and a nasty addiction to strawberry Kefir.  Where my older son has sensory issues, my three-year-old has peeing-on-the-floor-next-to-the-toilet issues.  (They all have something.)  Mostly, I’m the mother of two young kids who challenge me physically, psychologically, and emotionally on a daily basis.  Just like you.

I write this blog for a lot of reasons.  Selfishly, it’s for me.  It feels so bleeping good to get this stuff off my chest.  A little bit less selfishly, it’s for my boys.  I hope one day they have the clarity to see me not just as Mommy, but also as Jennifer or Jen or Jenny.  (Oh, and not to hate me.)  I also write it for you.  I try hard to give my children (and my husband, occasionally) the respect they need to go about their business with some sense of privacy, but I also know that what I’ve gone through – and what I will go through – isn’t unique to me.  It’s merely a bi-product of deciding to grow a human being inside your belly (or securing one from another lovely location) and committing to affording to send them to preschool.  It’s in the sharing of the experience – no matter how serious, sad, or just plain funny it is – that a sense of community is born and the precious gift of not being alone is realized.

I’ve just begun guest blogging on a new site called Voices of Sensory Processing Disorder.  You can read my first guest post, “Making and Breaking the Rules,”  here.  Without a doubt, I feel grateful on a daily basis that my kids have ten fingers and ten toes, no heart defects, no tumors, no intellectual disabilities, or fill in the blank.  But I do have a child with challenges that affect not only his daily functioning, but also the rest of our family’s.  It’s my honor to share my obsession with owls, my love of shopping, my persistent paranoia about my health, my dislike of cleaning pee on the floor next to the toilet, and the problems I’m determined to see through with my kids, my husband, and myself.

Here are some recent posts from this blog and some oldie-but-goodies you may have missed (tisk tisk).

• As of this morning, I have 24 more pencils to sharpen.  Read “Hard” here.
• How do you find comfort?  Me, I love falling asleep on the couch.  Read “Couch (or Blame) (or Hands)” here.
• Mama math is excellent brain exercise.  Read “Word Problems VIII (The Back to School Edition)” here.
• Are there little people sleeping in your bed…uninvited?  Read “Transform(er)ation” here.
• Been to a public bathroom with your kids lately and wish you could have your memory erased like in “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”?  Read “Public Bathroom Manifesto” here.
• Considering an uber hip postnuptial agreement?  Read “Testimony” here.

As always, thanks for reading…and sharing!

Questions, comments, concerns, recipe ideas, restaurant suggestions, book deals, or ideas on how to get my kids to brush their teeth twice a day?  Contact me at therunawaymama(at)gmail(dot)com.