2.7k
  January 9, 2019

My child was sexually harassed on the school bus & the reality set in

Yesterday should have been a normal day. It started off that way. But instead it became a first for my eldest daughter. My daughter asked a boy to stop using profanities, and instead, he used them more and more, especially directed at her. And then he threatened her, repeatedly.

When the bus did stop, she ran as fast as she could and into my arms. Her whole body shook with fear and anger. That was the day our daughter became the victim of sexually violent language. She is ten years old. The boy was twelve. She was riding the school bus home from fifth grade.

4.7k
  November 12, 2018

Could-be-babies: my missed miscarriage of twins

I've been up all night deleting my lists of baby names, deleting my secret baby registry, unfollowing the Twins groups I joined on Facebook, throwing away the books and the ultrasound photos that I'd been proudly displaying on our fridge. I've been up all night unbecoming a mother. I had a glass of wine and sushi and it wasn't as good as I needed it to be. Women don't talk about miscarriage, even though it happens to a lot of us. A LOT.

1.8k
  August 27, 2018

I'm a teacher and I'm dreading this question when school starts

Colleagues will ask it, parents will ask it, students will ask it. Some will ask it because it's the thing to do, some to fill dead air, some because they saw my (not to brag or anything) AMAZING vacation photos on social media, and some because they genuinely want to know. "How was your summer?"

You want to know how my summer really was? It was awful. I was an emotional, hormonal mess who was pregnant, but won't be having a baby anytime soon. I had two miscarriages, my second and third.
  July 25, 2018

The realness of early pregnancy and loss

My pregnancy was real. Really brief. Really scary. Really exciting. Really surprising. Really sad. Really hopeful. Really exhausting.

There were three emotional weeks between the moment I saw two lines on a pregnancy test in my bathroom at 4am and the moment an ultrasound confirmed we'd lost it. This wasn't our first pregnancy, but it was our first since knowing the pain of losing one. We were scared and sad from the start that we might lose it, yet we were hopeful this might finally be our time…

1.5k
  June 18, 2018

I'm a tattooed, blue-haired mom dealing with mental health stigma: do I need to tone down my look?

I'm a tattooed mom with blue hair who loves her family and teenage kids and live in a home full of love. Recently we've been working through challenges relating to mental illness — minor but requiring therapy and medication. I've lost some friends over it, people who could overlook the superficial style stuff, until it seemed less superficial.

My wardrobe has toned down a LOT in the six years we've lived here — but should I go back to being a brunette who tends to stick with long sleeves in the summer for the sake of my teen daughters?