Rather than dealing with an issue upfront, Sydne Didier wrote about it here, and in the process, the problem only escalated. Last week, I wrote something for Role/Reboot—about the parent cliques at my son’s school—that struck a cord. And I’ve been on the verge of tears ever since. Nauseous. Sad. Worried. Anxious. And at the […]
When will people stop looking to women as “keepers of the hearth”? I will start this tale with a confession: I have never liked housework. My husband would rather read or write than dust, too, but for some reason that isn’t confession material. I started my marriage with a commitment to fairness. I would do […]
The idea that a woman can love her own child and passionately support abortion rights should not be a provocative one. But it still is. I tried for almost a year to become pregnant. I was 33, then 34; not old by any measure, except the very particular one involving fertility. One month before I […]
Parents at Sydne Didier’s son’s school treat her with disdain for challenging the status quo. Turns out, the parents have cliques too. When my son started school nine years ago, I walked him to his classroom every morning. Hand-in-hand, we skipped like a television version of what parenting and childhood should be. I smiled and […]
The Daily Mail recently published a piece by a woman who says she wishes she’d never had her two children. Chanel Dubofsky defends her bravery for admitting what few would. On Wednesday, I posted Isabella Dutton’s piece on wishing she had never had children to Facebook, with the statement, “I am really, really, really grateful […]
Children “belong” to no one, says Lynn Beisner, but it’s a parent’s role to shape them and society’s job to provide parents with the resources to do that. In the year 2013, this should go without saying, but apparently some people have not gotten the memo: No human being is entitled to own another human […]
Plenty of men feel depressed and isolated because they’re unable to conceive, but there are few outlets for support, says Paige Lucas-Stannard. The language we use tells a powerful story about a woman’s overriding need to be a mother. Our culture talks about the “maternal clock,” going “baby crazy,” and having a “maternal instinct.” For […]
Would people think she wasn’t as powerful or strong if she no longer referred to herself as a “single mom”? Angie and I were playing hide-and-seek at the playground on a Wednesday afternoon when three helicopters starting circling overhead, a sure sign of trouble in our neck of northern Los Angeles. One of the dads […]
This originally appeared on Mamamia. Republished here with permission. My period was a little late, I felt dreadful, and I couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that there was something different. “I’m going to do a pregnancy test,” I told my husband (then boyfriend). I really didn’t think much of it. There were lots of other […]
Until cultural standards for parenting shift, the absent conversation about what we expect of working dads will never happen, says Jessica Smock. When was the last time that you were in a doctor’s office and saw “Working Dad” magazine? Does your family subscribe to it? Probably not. Since it doesn’t exist. Sure, some dads—understandably annoyed […]
Being a mom is hard enough. It’s time for women to stop arguing with each other over which is the best way to parent and focus on the real issues, says Kate Maruyama. We are having the wrong conversations. There have been a slew of articles on the Stay-At-Home-Mom vs. Working Mom debate. Each time […]
It’s time to start including dads in the work/life balance discussion. Working Dads Risk Damaging Their Child’s Prospects Working Dads Are Healthier, Study Finds Working Dads: Don’t Feel Guilty The 10 Commandments For Working Fatherhood 5 Comments To Avoid Saying To A Working Dad The Myth Of The Rich, Selfish Working Dad Have you seen […]
