When it comes to understanding the deeply personal pain of being estranged from family members, the stigma is as severe as public knowledge is shallow. Because I’m a standup comedian and therefore, by default, kind of a monster, I jokingly compare the broad spectrum of families to The Cosby Show. On television, the Huxtables were the perfect […]
Children soak up these messages and learn to tie their worth to the values they espouse. Men go out into the world and have adventures while women are wise caregivers who always know where your soccer shoes are when you need them. It’s 6.30pm. The kids are in their high chairs and you’re trying to […]
An equitably responsible life between a man and a woman should not be seen as a rare wonder, but an expectation. Women of a certain age often describe my husband as a gentleman. I met Jason at a graduate school party, a party I threw at my apartment in Columbus, Ohio, a party where, after […]
Someone I have never met donated a large sum of money, for no other reason than they felt it was the right thing to do, to help my family feel safe. A few hours after my daughter was born, a nurse walked into the hospital room where my partner was recovering. She looked from one […]
I have to accept the fact that Black men are not allowed to deal with their mental health issues — specifically personality and schizoaffective disorders. The man I considered a deadbeat dad for most of my life is a victim too. The last conversation with my father didn’t go well. I remember wondering whether I […]
Were you invited to a Moms’ Night Out Holiday Cookie Exchange that demanded you bake 72 homemade cookies and don’t know how to say no? Ask a Single Mom. Thinking about divorce and want to know what life is like on the other side? Ask a Single Mom. Have no idea how to make time […]
The general consensus is that they are the most selfish women on the planet and/or don’t love their children. What happened? This is the simple but very, very loaded question that I am asked when someone finds out that I don’t have primary custody of my daughter. Even those who label themselves “feminist” or “progressive” seem to […]
Most of us intend to be good parents; the reality is more like scrambling through the woods at night with a child in your arms. My mother and I weren’t really close when I was a kid. She was always the steady parent, the one who doled out punishments and tended to hold a bit of […]
