Jenny and Skot’s sunflower and music maternity session
Jenny and Skot took advantage of their last pre-baby vacation and had a friend shoot a few maternity photos — complete with happy sunflowers and music playing.
The family that Star Wars costumes together stays together
I have two boys who are very particular about costumes — it is pointless for me to even offer suggestions. It is just not a battle worth fighting for me. A few years ago they decided they wanted to be Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker. I’m not the biggest fan of dressing up, but we found ourselves invited to a costume party at which EVERYONE was supposed to wear costumes — kids and adults. I relinquished control and let the boys decide what the rest of the family should be… and of course they chose Star Wars characters.
I am a transgender dad in a gay relationship who breastfeeds his baby boy
Near the end of my pregnancy, I went to my first breastfeeding support meeting, facilitated by La Leche League. I was excited at the opportunity to learn, and terribly nervous in a room full of strangers — I was a guy at a women-only peer-to-peer help group. When it came to be my turn to speak, I gave my carefully prepared spiel: “My name is Trevor and I am able to be pregnant because I am transgender.”
Our child’s grandparents are Israeli, Syrian, German and Irish — how do we include their traditions without forcing the ideas on our child?
Both my husband and I come from ethnically and religiously mixed homes. My husband is the child of an Israeli Jewish dad and Syrian Muslim mom. I am the daughter of a German Quaker and an Irish Druidic Pagan. We don’t want our child to grow up confused about his/her own background or feel obligated to explore all paths if there’s one they prefer.
Thoughts on deciding whether or not to tell your kids you’re a sex worker
Back when I worked as a stripper, I was just about as out-and-proud as they come. I wrote a blog about stripping under my real name. I cofounded a magazine by and for sex workers. I found community in the sex worker rights movement. But when I gave birth to my daughter two years ago, I began to wonder if I should shut up about my years in the sex industry.
How can family members be extra helpful to a Mom recovering from a Cesarean section?
We just welcomed twins into our family! I’m thrilled to have a new niece and nephew, but my sister-in-law had a cesarean section and no one else in our family has ever experienced one. I’ve always helped and done what I can to help our family’s new moms with housework, pre-made meals, and doing whatever little things they need to have done if welcome — but I’m not sure if there’s something extra I could be doing in this case.
I had to learn to love my baby
I hear my husband coming up the stairs with our four-day-old baby. I hide my head under the duvet and dread their entry to the room, knowing it means I’ll have to feed him. Exhausted and sore from the birth, I wish the baby would disappear for a few hours so I could have my old life back.
My son the cross-dresser
My son is big into tractors. He loves Lego. He builds skyscrapers out of wooden blocks, and then goes all Godzilla on them. He plays in the mud, and looks for bugs, and has a thing for dinosaurs. And on the first day of gan (preschool) last week, my son told me he wanted to wear a dress.