Body shaming is just one more thing in this big, scary world that I can’t protect her from, but damned if I’ll stop trying. My toddler was twirling in her tutu bathing suit while I shimmied into my plus-sized polka dot bikini. Since my 2-year-old is still in the phase where she finds it socially […]
Was there something inside of me that just didn’t feel like being devoured anymore? Or was there something inside of me that believed I was no longer devourable? I got my first Barbie doll just before my 43rd birthday. Away on a girls’ weekend, I made the late-night fireside admission that I had not been […]
Certainly, times have changed, and perhaps mothers have more support in their roles now (in some ways), but let’s not pretend modern mothers have it easy. While out with my family one evening at a local restaurant that’s popular for its budget bites and kids’ playroom (aka entertainment so you can actually enjoy your meal […]
Early on I learned that if I could wear the right clothes, look the right way, at least in part, I could pass as normal. When my best friend Emily was pregnant with her first child, she was very sick, most notably during a Globe Theater performance, which she valiantly sat through in order to […]
Money and life obligations aren’t the only obstacles to travel. Sometimes, it has everything to do with your roots. When we were 16, my friend Caity and I told our mothers that we were going to the mall. It was a lie of omission. We were at a mall, but not the one across town […]
Sometimes, when people don’t show up, it’s not because they’re inconsiderate—it’s because they’re ill. It’s a Saturday afternoon around 1pm. I just woke up. I roll over, grab my phone, and immediately start toggling between apps. I ignore the 12 texts: one from a friend I’m supposed to be at a clothing swap with right now, […]
Over the almost 40 years that I’ve been on this planet, I’ve absorbed the message — whether it’s about my hair, pale skin, or the size of particular body parts — that I’m too much. I was an unusually hairy kid. For me, it was the thick, black hair that blanketed my milky white legs […]
No matter what we call ourselves, it’s true that we are the narcissist’s easy prey. I’ve always known I experience other people’s feelings differently. I pick up on nonverbal cues most people miss, and when I walk into a room I often feel assaulted by the intensity of other people’s emotions. For years, I would’ve […]
