Category: Parenting

Summer brings new guilt for working parents

Posted on July 19, 2021 by

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The guilt trip always comes at bedtime. “You’re always working. I feel like I never see you!” There are tears, too. Our daughter only just turned nine, but she already knows how to twist the knife.

Category: Parenting, The Mom Scene, WAHM

Hair donation leads to lesson in misgendering

Posted on June 12, 2021 by

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Instead of “boy” or “girl,” it’s just as easy to say “child” or “kid” or “student” or “person.” It’s also just as easy to refer to someone as “they” if you don’t know their preferred pronouns. It gets easier the more you do it, too.

Category: Our Son, Parenting, The Mom SceneTags: , , ,

Pandemic-weary parents trying to ‘hang on a little longer’

Posted on May 26, 2021 by

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Sometimes I cry, thinking about how this pandemic is scarring their childhoods. They can’t play tag (no touching!) or run a lemonade stand (germs!) or crowd together in a tree fort (social distancing!).

Category: Pandemic, Parenting, School, The Mom Scene, Uncategorized

I’m Heather Laura Clarke. I’m writer living in beautiful Nova Scotia, I have a 11-year-old son and a nine-year-old daughter, I married my high school sweetheart, and this is the story of my handmade life.

I have depression and anxiety, and I fight like hell every day to keep it from taking over my life. Making things isn’t just a hobby — it’s part of what keeps me alive.

Whether I’m writing novels, decorating a room, busting out my power tools to build furniture, getting muddy in the pottery studio, sewing clothes for my kids, or cross-stitching a swear word, I’m all about using my creativity to craft a life I love.

I’ve been writing this blog since 2009, so if you dig deep into the archives, you’ll meet a bright-eyed 25-year-old newlywed who was basically obsessed with having kids, buying a cozy house, and supporting herself full-time as a writer. (Spoiler alert: she got exactly what she wanted.)

Pizza Bites (425F for 10-15 min).
@HFXHeather on Twitter
My Top Posts
DIY dog crate cover
Easy hairstyles for Crazy Hair Day
Easy DIY sofa tables
How to re-cover patio furniture cushions
DIY quilt made from old jeans
Quilts from baby clothes
Build your own slide-out pantry
How to sew a cozy nap mat
DIY memory quilts from loved ones's clothes
How to transfer photos to wood (without a million failed attempts)
PREGNANCY blog posts
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© Heather Laura Clarke and Heather’s Handmade Life, 2009-2021. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Heather Laura Clarke and Heather’s Handmade Life with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.