Maybe it’s time we all came clean. If you have kids, you’ve probably found yourself saying some variation of this at some point: “Of course, I can never regret [fill-in-the-blank], because otherwise, my kid(s) wouldn’t be here!” And if you don’t have kids, you’ve probably heard your parent friends say it. Maybe that fill-in-the-blank is an […]
There are days when getting out of bed takes grit. There are two kinds of people in the world: those who make their beds in the morning, and those who do not. If I ever become one of the latter, you’ll know I’ve given up. “What’s the point making my bed when I’m only going […]
My anxiety doesn’t mean I can’t be a good parent. In fact, it makes me a better one. I’m one of the least anxious parents I know. When my girls were little, I skipped almost every well-child visit and never called the doctor for the run-of-the-mill fevers and runny noses my friends seemed to flip […]
My whole life, people have been telling me I’m “too much.” Bullshit. The first time I remember feeling like people were afraid of me, I was 6 years old. I was at the dinner table, and I was mad about something – whatever 6-year-olds get mad about, probably some perceived injustice having to do with my being […]
I always thought being married would make me happy. It didn’t. Now what? Ever since I was little, I’ve dreamed about being married. Maybe it’s because my mom leaned too much on me after her divorce, filling me up with stories about how all she’d ever wanted to be was a wife and mother, and […]
“Parenting” has become a competitive sport. But it’s kids who are losing. When my daughters were little, we did a lot of time at our neighborhood playgrounds. I’d park myself on a bench with a book, or chat with my friends while the kids played. Sometimes, I’d push them on a swing, or spot them […]
Is it that hard to love me for me? When I was a kid, I used to wonder what I’d be like when I grew up. Somehow I had the idea that nothing about me would ever stay the same. I thought I might grow up to look completely different and act completely different, as though […]
I couldn’t speak up then, but I have to now. In my imagination, the first question the police ask me is, what was I was doing at a party where I didn’t know anyone? My answer sounds like an indictment: I was there because cute guys invited me, and because I was lonely. I was […]
You know what’s worse than getting divorced? Feeling lonely every day. A friend once confided in me that she wanted to leave her husband, but one thing was stopping her: the idea of becoming a single mom. I get it. The term “single mom” is loaded—you’re either ruining the moral fabric of the country, you’re a victim […]
