Love Means Showing Up
I was terrified about my daughter entering adolescence. I’d heard so many horror stories about the dramatic changes that happen to teenage girls; I was braced for her to turn into a monster. She honestly didn’t change that much. Caroline is still herself—just stretched out a little. She’s still lovely. I should have been more
I’m fascinated by this whole Colin Kaepernick situation. When I first started hearing about his kneeling during the national anthem at the start of NFL games, I thought it sounded pretty reasonable. His statement, “I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and
I should have paid closer attention to the online invitation. We are part of an adoption playgroup for transracial families and they were hosting a pool party. It’s a really nice group of people, but we don’t have a lot of overlap in our lives with the other families except for the fact that we’ve
I get it. I understand the fear. I see you. I hear you. But I’m going to need you to tamp that crazy down. Just as our kids were returning to school last week, I noticed a lot of alarmist posts on social media. One was about a teenager narrowly escaping sex-trafficking at our local
I’m doing my best to raise decent human beings. It is taking all of my skill, intellect, creativity and stamina. I’m not exactly hitting it out of the park every single day, but I am refusing to give up. As a mom, I deeply resent that our president is making my job harder by acting
Towards the end of the school year, social media was upsetting me. I wasn’t proud of this, but all of the honors nights and academic awards made me sad. I know it is completely appropriate that parents are proud of their excellent students and want to post about their achievements.They didn’t do anything wrong. It
As I was gathering up our supplies for the beach, my 16 year old daughter and one of her best friends came out of their bedroom wearing bikinis. They looked like the fabulous athletes that they are. I stood there in my Lands’ End bathing suit blinking at them. It was like we weren’t the
I first heard the story from a pastor in New Orleans. As a mom of black children, I hoped it wasn’t true. As a white person, though, I kind of knew in my bones that it was true. It’s a pretty well documented story. After Hurricane Katrina, there were people stranded in a mixed-income,
It wasn’t her fault that I really didn’t like her. She was all sinewy and lean. Well, maybe some of it was her fault. She was being really loud, carrying on about how much she loved nut butters. This young woman at the gym was talking to a dude who was fascinated by her.
Our twin girls are nothing alike. Elizabeth only notices things that are sparkly, shiny, or animal-print. Katie watches everyone like a hawk and does not miss any details. She can read a room like nobody’s business and usually has a list of follow-up questions. Raising a child like Katie can be both enlightening and exhausting,