Growing Up – Red Tent Living

Recess

By: redtentwomen October 7, 2021October 1, 2021

Intentional Living, Monthly ThemesAnnelise Roberts, childlikeness, Growing Up, Play5 Comments

I am not a wild woman, I am a tired woman, A “give me a minute,” stressed and wired woman.

Dance

By: redtentwomen December 8, 2020November 30, 2020

Day to Day, Faith, relationshipscaretaking, Dance, Growing Up2 Comments

I’ve always found myself in the dance of caretaking, waiting for my partner to take the lead, whether my mom, my dad, or a friend. When I found myself disappointed or let down, I’d lead instead. It was exhausting, but necessary to get my needs met. Occasionally I would have moments when I could float…

Pink Blossom

By: redtentwomen August 19, 2020August 3, 2021

Day to Day, Faith, Femininity, Monthly ThemesGrandmother, Growing Up, Kindness, Little girls, Mary Jane Hamilton, Remembering, Wearing Pink14 Comments

The word “pink” has a special place in my heart.

On the subject of love, legs, and femininity.

By: redtentwomen July 31, 2019March 7, 2020

FemininityAdolescence Girls, Body image, Growing Up, Katy Johnson, Learning to shave, loving your body, Middle school girls9 Comments

Hairy kneecaps. The first time my body became “my body”—a thing separate from me—was at 6thgrade lunch period when Valerie Warner informed me Pete Harris would never date me because I had hairy kneecaps. She’d asked him about me, and his answer, given in the presence of the other 7thgrade boys, had been, according to…

Broken Identity

By: redtentwomen April 19, 2019April 18, 2019

Day to Day, FaithAbuse, Change, EE Cummings, Growing Up, Naming, Rebecca Gonsalves, Recovery from Abuse8 Comments

I grew up never liking my name. It wasn’t that my name was anything unusual or difficult to pronounce. I was just never fond of it. I remember sitting in school as my teachers would “call roll” imagining that my name would have been one of my fellow classmates. When you have a three syllable…

Darling Mom

By: redtentwomen January 11, 2019January 9, 2019

Day to Day, Femininity, relationshipsDarling Mom, Growing Up, Jill Dyer, Mothering, Needing a Mom14 Comments

“I don’t need you, MOM! I don’t need you!” I hear this screamed by a large, fit, and well-dressed man. He is a study in contradiction. He has a large pack which suggests to me that he could be homeless. He is huge, more than six feet tall. He appears mentally ill. He is screaming…

Fruit Cocktail

By: redtentwomen November 8, 2018November 8, 2018

Day to Day, relationshipsAdverse Childhood Experiences, Becky Allender, Growing Up, Mono-Eater, Play, Stability19 Comments

As a child, a dark closet was the safest ground to play with my dolls. My mother was not a cruel woman, but she didn’t play, nor did she give room for anything other than work. She grew up in the aftermath of the Great Depression with a mother who gave two of her children…

Ragtag Courage

By: redtentwomen August 3, 2017August 2, 2017

Day to Day, Intentional LivingGrowing Up, Joanna Wilder, Neighborhood Ministries, Phoenix, Recovery from Abuse5 Comments

The word “instigate” means “to bring about, as by incitement or urging; to urge on to some drastic or inadvisable action.” Sounds sinister, doesn’t it?

Labor Pains.

By: redtentwomen October 5, 2016October 6, 2016

Intentional LivingChanging Seasons, College, courage, Empty Nesting, Firstborn to College, Grief, Growing Up, Letting Go, Susan Tucker14 Comments

“Life is a balance between holding on and letting go.” ~ Rumi

Grown Up Things

By: redtentwomen October 5, 2015October 4, 2015

Day to DayDeanna Sturgeon, doing hard things, facing conflict, Grandmother, Growing Up, Mothering boys1 Comment

My daughter-in-law called me the other day and said, “Please talk to Isabelle (my almost 5 year old granddaughter). She’s freaking out because she’s not a baby anymore.”