“I went from the excitement of thinking about life beyond motherhood to grappling with the unexpected.”
Hi. I’m Lisa and I live in Oakland, California with my husband, Josh, three girls, Ella (b. 2002), Ruby (b. 2005) and Lilah (b. 2011) and Sadie, our Australian Labradoodle.
Yes, there is a big gap between my middle and my youngest and no, I didn’t plan it that way. At 41, after three years of trying for a third and one official miscarriage, my doctor said I couldn’t conceive naturally. We cried, decided not to pursue IVF and counted our blessings.
While the news was sad, it was also a release. I’d thrown myself full-time and headlong into motherhood when my second came along. Six years later, I no longer knew who I was beyond “mom.”
With the decision made to stick at two, I could finally imagine the next phase of my life. My husband and I started making grand plans — let’s make wine in France! Let’s sail around the world! Let’s skydive! — and I gave thought to more down-to-earth ones, like figuring out what I wanted to be when I grew up. The possibilities felt endless and wonderful and scary.
Three months later I was pregnant.
Now, here I am, sorting through the challenges of midlife, nostalgically pondering my own coming-of-age-years and searching for balance with one parenting foot in the rollercoaster realm of teens while the other is firmly planted in the more familiar land of early childhood. There’s tumult and joy, rearranging and rethinking, but most of all, a deep sense of coming into myself.
Welcome to Flingo.
xo/Lisa
P.S. The name Flingo comes from my darling middle daughter Ruby. That’s what she called flamingos when she was around two. It reminds me of all the words we use, real or made up, when we’re working to tell the truth.
I’d love to hear from you! You can reach me via email or leave a comment below.
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This is wonderful, Lisa—-I’m so happy to have found your site. I think you know how much I enjoy your writing and your reaching out to encourage me in my beginner efforts. You are so very very human to me and I appreciate that a lot. Your grandmother sounds wonderful. I am a dropped Christian—I have no use for it. I guess I am some sort of spirtitual humanist, actually a buddhist, I guess. My wife is Jewish. She’s reading Torah on Saturday, an aliya, at the Woodstock Jewish Congregation, which is Recontructionist. She loved the grandmother story, as I did. All the best and I’ll see you on-line in The Inky Path.
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Three adorable daughters, a long list of featured articles, a lovely blog with a unique name – seems like you’re one blessed mama!
Chiming in from the fb group Get Your Muse On.
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Good to “meet” you Rosanna. Thanks so much for your kind words and yes, it’s a good life, even with it’s ups, downs and inside outs.
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My blog name is from a fake word too. Finding Ninee. Ninee= airplane. So we pretty much rock. If not for that? I’m 46 and my son is 5. So wheee!
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I love the made up words! They actually make sense a lot of the time. And of course being in our mid-40s has it’s advantages 😉
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Lisa, I love your blog and “flingo”. For me, “tutterfly” is my favorite of all the funny words my kids have said.
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Thanks so much Lisa and thanks for reading. “Tutterfly” is adorable 🙂
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I absolutely loved the story you wrote about “post baby weight”! I just had my first son 4 months ago & I have been struggling. Reading that made me feel better (: so thank you.
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Thank you so much Jenna — I’m so glad it was helpful. I know it’s so hard to come to accept what you look and feel like just after giving birth, especially when you have a newborn to care for and are sleep deprived! I promise you, you will feel better over time. Your body is awesome. Hang in there 🙂
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What an amazing story! I look forward to reading all about your adventures!
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Thanks Sasha! So good to connect with you.
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Thanks so much for the follow Lisa! Fabulous blog!
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Much gratitude Victoria. So pleased you’re reading me!
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You’re welcome!
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The charm (and challenge) of life, that we never know what awaits us. We can only do our best and stay open in every situation we face.
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Thank you.
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wow: “the words we use, real or made up, when we struggle to say what is really true.” so lovely.
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