My son told me I’m his “second mom”
We had waited until our son Ben turned four to talk about adoption. We wanted him to be old enough to begin to “get it”, knowing we’d build on it more and more as he was able to understand everything it meant. And like the “Where do babies come from?” conversation with our oldest son, the “What does adoption mean?” conversation was brief and age-appropriate, with most of the grownup details left out.
On risk, chasing dreams, and saying goodbye to my child
The greatest thing I can give to her is the command to pursue her own dreams, whatever they may be. And to give her that, I must give it to myself first. That was what I am trying to do. That is all I can say to her. And up the mountain I go.
Oh WOW: our baby just turned 18 years old
Cue shopping for the birthday dinner — we’re at the store, looking at birthday cards. I pick one up at random and as I’m reading, I start bawling right in the middle of the card aisle. Full tears were streaming down my face. It suddenly was very real that my baby girl was crossing the line into adulthood.
Many miles separate our family: life after your kids move out
My son and two daughters have grown up to be delightful young adults, funny, thoughtful, affectionate. We have great times together. Problem is, we just don’t see each other all that often.
Dont Ever give Up Who you are for Enybody: Getting to know the man my father was
Even as adults, we are unable see our parents clearly because of the lingering distortions created by our childhood views of them. I am unable to separate who Daddy actually was as a person from the role he played in my earliest memories. I have not fabricated a filter to tint my perspective; I just don’t allow myself a critical vantage point.
My badass seven-year-old hero saved the chickens — and his mom
Everyone wants to be a hero — a badass. Few things compare with that feeling of knowing you were there, just at the right moment, and completely changed the outcome of a situation doomed for darkness. I could argue that maybe it’s this need that fuels motherhood, because being a parent requires being a badass many times a day.
A stepdad success story
My children don’t share his genes, but you’d never know by watching my dad interact with my two-year-old daughter. He holds her with tender arms and listens to her stories with the contentment of a proud and happy grandfather. When I watch her giggle as he scratches her cheek with his whiskers, I’m reminded that my family is not bound by biology, but by love and commitment, two values that he helped instill in me.
Body Autonomy: a feminist, sex-positive perspective on teaching your children body ownership
As people, we get one body, and, as a feminist, it is damn important to me to claim total ownership of mine. The best thing that I can ever do for my children is to give them autonomy over themselves. I want my daughter especially — who came into a world that legally accepts her body has her own but sends messages all the time that reject that truth — to fill out her skin with a personal spirit that is impermeable.