There were no books for an African American girl in a wheelchair, so I wrote one
When I went looking for a bedtime book that I felt my child could relate to, I came up short. Actually, I came up empty. I searched local independent bookstores, well-known chain bookstores like Barnes & Noble, and even online looking for a book that had an African American girl in a wheelchair on the cover, and quickly discovered there was nothing. It simply did not exist.
So, I decided to take matters into my own hands…
Learning from Jerry Seinfeld and Kesha: How to politely decline a hug
I recently watched a video of Jerry Seinfeld rebuffing a potential hug from Kesha with some serious awkwardness. The question is: how does someone who doesn’t want a hug (a totally okay thing for lots of legit health/social/psychological/whatever reasons!) go about politely decline a hug without seeming like a dick who doesn’t know who Kesha is?
How I made peace with the fact that I will never make my father happy
Realizing that I will never make my father happy was a very momentous revelation. And while I’m sure you’re all very happy for me, I couldn’t objectively understand the pressing urge to write my story. And yet, it wouldn’t stop. I needed to get this realization out there.
And then I finally understood why…
I want my son to understand that he can wear, do, or play with anything he wants
I have a four-year-old son, and his father is very “that’s for boys and this is for girls,” and “you can’t wear/do/play with that because you’re a BOY.”
My hope is that this beautiful community of families can help me by suggesting books, movies, or other resources that might help us get the point across to our son. I have looked high and low and I’ve nabbed the materials that I feel express my feelings, but I want as many tools as I can to help my son understand that he can wear, do, or play with anything he wants.
I’m Mrs. Breadwinner, he’s Mr Stay at Home Dad, and in 2017 that shouldn’t feel weird
My husband stays at home all day to care for our daughter. He’s also responsible for most of the cooking and cleaning. While I make the big bucks. Even around Boston, stay at home dads are rare. And it’s sad that stay at home dads are rare.
The scarcity trap: How sugarcane farmers helped me understand my obsession with becoming a parent
I’ve found some relevance in articles and incredibly personal accounts of pregnancy loss, infertility, grief, and/or anxiety. But it wasn’t until listening to this Hidden Brain podcast from NPR — The Scarcity Trap, Why We Keep Digging When We’re Stuck in Hole — that I found an unlikely solidarity with the experience of sugar cane farmers in India.
Kids and cultural appropriation v. cultural appreciation: Where’s the line?
After my three-year-old son watched Disney’s Moana and decided he would be Maui when he grows up (be still my heart), I started thinking about cultural appropriation and how to properly frame that for my son as he grows…
Help me out. When does cultural appreciation cross the line into culture appropriation?
I’m a father and I want to talk about parenting with depression
I’m sure other parents have gone through this, and it’s not a topic we talk about a lot. Postpartum depression has gotten a lot of press in recent years (as it should), but depression impacts dads as well. As men, we tend to avoid these kinds of topics by and large; which is foolish, but that doesn’t make it any less the case.
So let’s talk about parenting with depression…