This originally appeared on Renegade Mothering. Republished here with permission. Hey son. What I want for you is to stay soft. It’s really un-American of me. It’s really against what “men” stand for, you know. All that machismo badass shit. The world will eat a soft man alive. For breakfast. Fucking pathetic weakling. That’s what […]
Only children are creative, loyal, and self-aware, so why the bad reputation? A few years ago I found myself sitting across the kitchen table from the mother of a friend, while he and his sister were occupied downstairs. “Do you have any siblings?” she asked me. “I’m an only child,” I said. “Mmm.” She smiled […]
This originally appeared on JaysonGaddis.com. Republished here with permission. Over a year ago, my 4-year-old son (3 at the time), told me he wanted to be in a boys group. It was a mind-stopper. I sat for a moment. Then my heart said, “OK, let’s do it.” A year later, it has begun. I almost […]
If you meet your child without notions of who you think they should be, you will be rewarded with knowing and loving them for who they are, regardless of sex or gender, says Marni Hochman. I never wanted a son. I always imagined having children, but only girls—two or three of them. Up until my […]
Robin Silbergleid has never regretted her decision to have two children on her own, but after a decade of solo parenting, realizes the value of having another adult around. When I decided, at 28, to become a single mother by choice, I wasn’t worried about what other people would think or whether or not my […]
Megan Beyer says her guilt is not her mother’s guilt, which was wanting more than what she was told to want. Hers is the guilt of having more options and not feeling at peace. So in what generation will the guilt end? It is the beginning of another school year and today’s mother opens an […]
No matter what you wish for as a parent, things will never go as planned. Years before I became a parent or had even a serious partner and feasible co-parent, I decided my future child had to be a girl. I couldn’t envision myself cradling, bathing, and walking alongside anyone but the daughter I pictured […]
Gina DeMillo Wagner grew up with the heavy weight of responsibility, not only to make up for every one of her special needs brother’s limitations, but to be wholly, completely un-needy. My brother is and forever will be 5 years old. I’m not saying he’s immature. Rather, he’s a boy frozen in time. A young […]
