I clearly remember when I found out my good friend Kajsa was pregnant. A small group of us were gathered at her house in Laguna Beach, planning on having a few drinks before heading out for the night. Kajsa was drinking her beer out of a glass and I thought to myself, “That’s fancy; she usually drinks her Bud Light out of the bottle.” But after the rest of us had our drinks in hand she made the announcement—Kajsa was pregnant. (She was drinking a non-alcoholic beer out of that glass and didn’t want us to know, the tricky girl.) After months and months of fertility treatments, to say that we were ecstatic is putting it mildly. Especially since her pregnancy happened naturally. A short while later, three more of us became pregnant, and BAM! we had a playgroup.
The first year of our kiddos lives, Kajsa, Alison, April and I met at least once a week. I don’t know how I could have made it through those first months of motherhood without them. Our children, Maddie, Luke, Finley and Kieran became best buddies. We would rarely do an outing without at least another of us joining. As the kids grew, schedules became busier, and though we didn’t have the time to meet once a week, we did make a point to get together somewhat regularly and have the kids play while we chatted, vented, laughed and cried. You know, regular motherhood stuff.
This past Friday, January 14 was such a time. My son, Kieran, hadn’t seen Maddie in six weeks, and I hadn’t seen Kajsa in a month, so we wanted to have them over. They came to our house for dinner—the kids played with Play Dough, looked at what Kieran had received for Christmas, and then Maddie commented that she was tired and wanted to know if she could watch television and rest. Not something a five-year-old usually says. Kajsa commented that Maddie had been extremely tired during the previous days—falling asleep in unusual places and going to bed at 6:30 PM. She chalked it up to having a big week at school, but had taken her in for blood tests a couple days prior to make sure. [Read more…] about Maddie: A Story of Courage and Heart