Heather Madrone's Home Page

These days, I am busy mothering my four children, Morganne (age 11), Matisse (age 7), Malcolm (age 4), and Merlin (age 9 months). I also act as a parental advisor to my stepson, Alex. Although I've done many types of work in my life (including a twelve-year stint as a computer programmer), parenting is the most demanding, exhausting, and rewarding task I've ever set my hand to. I take pride in my job as a mother; doing it well requires both creativity and flexibility.

I also spend time working as a contract technical writer. I enjoy writing technical manuals for a programmer audience. I've written several C++ class library guides for Windows and Unix. Technical writing helps me keep my brain in programming world and still meet the needs of my family. I prefer short, sweet, and to the point contracts so I can focus intensively on technical writing for a few months and then take a break to focus on my mothering.

Our home and our family are at the center of our lives. All four of our children were born at home, My husband and I work primarily from home. We also homeschool our children. Home-based living has led to a shift in values and a renewed appreciation for the people with whom we share our lives, home and hearts.

Garry, my shining Avatar, keeps me honest and helps me cut through the dross to get to the essential in my life. In our 19 years of partnership (married for the past 15), we've worked through a lot of creations. Garry, I send you love and appreciation once again for your being-ness, your commitment to our journey and your willingness to meet the challenge. The adventure continues.

These folks are the members of my family.

Visit the Madrone Family Photo Gallery.

When I was in my early twenties, I used to fantasize about having my babies in a teepee deep in the forest, with only the birds and perhaps a coyote as midwife.

I've since become more sensible, but it seemed natural for me to choose to birth my children at home. All three of our children have been born in our living room, within a few feet of one another. The births were attended by nurse-midwives Kate Bowland and Roxanne Potter.

When I was a child, I loved to write. Technical writing helps me to scratch the writing itch, but I also write essays and poetry.

I used to be a very active poster on misc.kids, before I got too busy to read more than 3% of the articles in the group, let alone post my own personal opinions. I still keep two misc.kids FAQs. You are welcome to download these FAQs for your own personal use or to share with friends. Please don't propagate them to ftp archives or other web pages; the contributors were kind enough to share some very personal information and I don't want to distress them.

As a member of Nursing Mothers' Counsel, successful breastfeeding is very important to me. I heard lots of early breastfeeding horror stories on misc.kids and decided to put together a FAQ to help women avoid sore nipples. Lots of people laugh when they see the Nipple Soreness FAQ, but any woman who has experienced nipple "soreness" can tell you that it's no laughing matter.

My daughter Morganne was diagnosed with amblyopia at age 4.5. I put together the Children's Eyeglasses and Amblyopia FAQ from the responses to my questions about her vision treatment. Her vision treatment has been very successful, but we still seek the grail of perfect vision.

The labrys or double-headed axe
is an ancient symbol of spirituality
and women's power. The labrys was
used in the ceremonial execution
of the divine king and is a symbol
of freedom and renewal.

The presence of the labrys
on this page reminds me to cut through
old beliefs whose time has passed.

When I find that my own behavior
is circumscribed by habit or entrenched theory,
the labrys helps me let go of beliefs
that do not serve me and replace them with
beliefs suited to my current circumstances.

The labrys on this page is a
cross-stitch pattern that I designed
for a women's spirituality group.