Reflections on the difficulties of pregnancy by a Roman Catholic feminist
Now that I’m actually pregnant, I’m realizing it’s not quite that easy. I actually really dislike being pregnant. I felt awful for the first four-and-a-half months. By “awful,” I mean specifically that I thought I was going to throw up at any moment around the clock. I often did, and when I didn’t I usually felt even worse. I couldn’t open my refrigerator door, I couldn’t cook or prepare my own food, I couldn’t food shop — the smells were too intense and the nausea was too debilitating. I didn’t feel like I was having a baby… I felt like I had become the baby.
You’re Doing it Right: what 18 years of weird parenting looks like
My good friend Alexander and his wife Nicole just celebrated the graduation of their oldest daughter from high school. I wanted to know what their tricks and tools for raising such stellar kids were, and what I can learn from their experiences. The following is an interview with Alexander.
Tips for helping your offbeat student navigate the waters at public school
No one wants their child to miss out on the opportunity to be themselves, and creativity and individuality can seem impossible in a large, standardized school environment. I have seen, though, that it can work.
My experience applying Zen Buddhism to labor and breastfeeding
When I went into labor with my son at 1:30 on Monday afternoon, I never imagined that he wouldn’t arrive into the world until 12:40 on Wednesday afternoon. Somehow, I survived forty seven hours of labor and lived to tell the tale. Surprisingly, I was even joyful and mentioning things I’d like to do differently “next time” as soon as we were recovering. Other than the epidural, my secret to managing a nearly two full days of labor is Buddhism.
How do you talk to your kids about Jesus when you’re an atheist?
One day, my five-year-old asked me if I knew Jesus made the world. So, I told her what we know: that once the earth was here, things started to happen little by little, until one little creature had become a million little creatures, all changing and growing.
Our genderqueer family has a lesbian Dad
Many genderqueer parents pick alternative names for their parental role — nothing felt right for my partner, so we’re using Dad.
“All our love, Mommy and Momma”: considering identity and lesbian families
I don’t know what it’s like to grow up with a mom and dad, and neither will the daughter I hope to have.
How I “survived” my religious homeschooling upbringing
I have tattoos, I work in a library, I’m liberal, pro-choice, and try to eat local … and when I tell people I was homeschooled, I tend to get raised eyebrows.