Men are led to believe, often since they are young boys, that women should have sex with them when they want it. You’ve no doubt heard this complaint from one of your married friends: We’re not having as much sex anymore. It’s a complaint that plays right into the stereotype that once couples get married they […]
I was a biter. I was a hitter. I was a smart ass and spit out some fairly ugly things in anger, at my mother, who—kinder and gentler than most—took it. Every year on October 31st, I call my mother. Not because she is particularly fond of Halloween, but because it’s my birthday. “Happy my […]
Dear Dana is a bi-weekly advice column for humans who engage in romantic relationships. Please send your dilemmas, issues, conundrums, assumptions, conflicts, anxieties, worriments, obstacles, complications, predicaments, queries, questions, and any other synonyms for “problems” to deardana@rolereboot.org. Dear Dana: My husband and I have been married for five years, and we are proud new parents of […]
Most nights we fought, and there was a constant tension between us, a tension that felt confusing, because we were working together to raise our baby, but pulling apart in so many other ways. The sippy cup spout was still gunky, smeared with the remnants of a half-squished date. I stared at it in disbelief, […]
I promised myself I would be the opposite of everything my mother had been. It was 7am on a Saturday. I was standing in the bathroom, holding a stick and waiting for a word to appear. A little suspicion in the back of my mind had grown into a giant bubble of hope, and so […]
In our late 40s, my husband and I adopted two boys. We knew our lives would be different, but we didn’t expect our friendships to change so drastically. I’m not shy but I’m an introvert. I like other humans but I have a limited tolerance for “peopling”—you know, cocktail parties, wedding receptions, any place where […]
If women masturbating is taboo, then the notion of a mother masturbating is either dismissed as an aberration, or more likely, just not considered. But becoming a mother doesn’t end our personal relationships with our vulvas. Despite a recent Kinsey report that points out that 85% of women masturbate, this popular form of self-love is missing […]
What the hell, at least there’s the possibility of having someone you can talk to during the day—someone else who gives a shit about shit. A real live baby. What will you do with it? Life forever changed in a six-and-a-half-pound package. What will you do with it? It is yours forever—no refund. Black hair, […]
This originally appeared on The Daily Life. Republished here with permission. “When friends get pregnant, it’s like they suddenly have a ticket to a faraway place called ‘Babyland’ whose language and customs I can’t understand.” When a friend tells you she’s pregnant, “overwhelmed with joy” is the correct response, barring any mitigating factors like being […]
This originally appeared on The Daily Life. Republished here with permission. When women are asked what we are doing all day, the next question, sometimes silent but almost always present, is “Why aren’t you doing more?” “What do you do all day?” asked someone who reads this blog. Shouldn’t I post more often, since I must have […]
