My mother wanted me and I was born. My very existence is an act of resistance. When I was young, maybe 6 or 7, I was riding in a car with my mother on a sunny day. Suddenly, my mind flashed to a schoolteacher’s recent explanation of abortion. I started to cry. “Mommy, thank you […]
Not all matriarchs are loud and bossy, nor do they conspire to control the lives of their families. They are women who have embraced the authority that comes with age and are using it to help others. There is a famous commercial in which Andie MacDowell looked into the camera and told us, “I don’t plan […]
Moms are not superheroes. They get sick, need help and a good cry sometimes. And maybe the best thing you can teach your kids is how to get back up after you’ve been knocked down. When you were young and untethered, it was no big deal to take to your bed when you got hit […]
There is beauty and terror in every aspect of life worth pursuing, says Emily Rapp. never thinking this would cost you anything, never imagining the sound of my voice as anything but part of you— you won’t hear it in the other world, not clearly again, not in birdcall or human cry, not […]
You don’t have to share DNA to be a family. It is a typical Saturday morning. I struggle through the grocery store, the toddler threatening to jump from the cart to find the fish, the 10-year-old reminding me we’re out of grape juice and asking if can we please get a new kind of ice […]
This originally appeared on Everyday Feminism. Republished here with permission. You talk to your kids about the dangers of crossing the road, but your child is more likely to be molested than to be hit by a car when crossing the street. (Note: This piece contains descriptions of sexual abuse that may upset some readers.) […]
This originally appeared on Everyday Feminism. Republished here with permission. I do not want to have children. When it comes up in conversation, people are shocked by my choice. People who have or want children sometimes seem offended by it. Others brush it off, saying I’ll change my mind someday. Maybe it’s surprising that I […]
This originally appeared on The Daily Life. Republished here with permission. On a recent visit to her grandparents, my 4-year-old daughter Violet decided to wear her favorite skirt. It’s also the most stained, torn, and tattered skirt she owns. But I let her. Same goes for when she opts to wear to kindergarten a bedazzled […]
