How do I get my mother-in-law to stop addressing things to my non-existent married name?
My husband and I have been married for six years now and most of the family is fully aware of the fact that I kept my last name — actually, I’m sure my in-laws are well aware of this. But my mother-in-law keeps addressing mail and checks to me as if I had changed my name.
Autism and puberty: my 10-year-old is growing up, and I’m not ready
My ten-year-old daughter with Asperger’s syndrome just got her period. When my daughter was diagnosed several years ago as being on the Autism spectrum, I only thought so far as the toddler/elementary school years. Everyday things like getting dressed and playing with other kids were already such challenges, I just couldn’t wrap my head around what would happen when my daughter, you know, becomes a woman.
Goodbye screen time, hello awesome kid
My husband and I freely cop to having used television as a coping method. As two working parents with up to three hours of commute time each per day, free time to clean the house, cook meals, or attempt a conversation is seriously lacking. So, for about a half hour on weekday mornings and around half hour to 45 minutes in the evening on those days, we’d turn on the Roku and let our three-year-old kiddo watch Wonder Pets, ’60s-era Spider-Man, or any other variety of parental-approved idiot box entertainment while we powered through chores and tried to plot out each day.
How do you reconnect with emotionally abusive parents while protecting yourself?
My sister and I have emotionally abusive parents. They say that they want to be there for us now, but don’t know how to change. I don’t know how to explain to them how to start building proper parent-child relationships. I’d really appreciate some ideas on how to do this.
The Good Mother Myth: redefining motherhood to fit reality
Her kids have always slept through the night, and even if they don’t, she still manages to look like she has had eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. There is always a well-balanced, home-cooked meal on her dinner table. She either happily stays at home or holds down a fulfilling job while still finding time to join the PTA, run the school’s book sale, and makes it to every single soccer game. She is usually white, middle to upper class, heterosexual, and neither too young nor too old. But above all… she’s a myth. And it’s this myth that divides women and pits mothers against each other while fueling the flames of the manufactured “mommy wars.”
I gave birth in the home I was raised in: a Southern home birth tale
Surrounded by my husband, my daughter, my mother and a dear sweet friend we welcomed our last puzzle piece into our home. Born at the home his mother grew up in, the home he was made in and the place where we will let love grow for the rest of our lives. Jasper was born in our very own bathroom back here in North Carolina. It was right for us and I would’t have it any other way. Go figure, my body’s not a lemon.
We’re adopting a teenager: help?
I have loved how Offbeat Families has covered and supported all kinds of families. My husband and I recently and totally unexpectedly became parents to a 17-year-old boy. I have been blown away by the depth of emotions I have felt after only knowing him for a short time.
My partner just found out he’s infertile. How do we begin to cope?
Now that we know my partner is infertile, for the first time I realize that there’s a good chance that I’ll never get pregnant, that we’ll never make a child together. When we thought the problem was me he would always know the right thing to say or do to make me feel better, but now that the situation is reversed I don’t know what to say to him, “I love you” doesn’t really seem like enough.