Pondering the challenges faced by queer families traveling internationally
My partner Jack and I had been excited about planning a family trip to Belize — we found a great VRBO cottage and fabulous flights. We were all ready when Jack asked, “Do we know if they like ‘our kid’ in Belize?” As in: are they ok with queers?
This shouldn’t be so weird and scary: thoughts on miscarriage
Imaginary woman, you are part of a long line of women who have been through this. You are not alone. I hope you have friends who will talk to you about even the ickiest parts. But even if you don’t, or even if they’re all asleep right now, you’re not alone.
Open thread: do you ever catch yourself turning into one of your parents and like it?
I spent a lot of time as a teenager wondering if my mom was really happy. How could she be, I wondered, working a thankless job as a teacher, married to a man who worked incessantly, and dealing with two kids who were hell? She never stopped moving — she would wake up at 4AM to work out before her day began, and then go through her daily motions. How could anyone be happy with that?
Why I’m not letting tragedies stop me from having kids
My thoughts turned to my friend at work who had given birth that day, and her baby who would always share a birthday with this tragedy. I thought of my other friend who is planning on welcoming twins into this world in October and taking the rest of the school year off to be with them. I thought of my childhood best friend whose daughter is almost a year old. And I thought, I am so lucky to be childfree. How do you deal with questions from a young child about why and what happened when these tragedies inevitably take place? I wasn’t even sure what I would tell my high school students in class the next day.
20 minute dance party: how our family exercises together
A few weeks ago my husband and I were trying to figure out how to watusi, so we turned to this video on YouTube. It turns out Michael Ivy is a dedicated dance instructor who has a whole list of instructional dance videos. We eyed the list, deduced that playing it in its entirety would take about 20 minutes, and asked our four-year-old if he wanted to dance with us.
I deleted the photos, and put the phone down: letting go of nostalgia for the future
I recently tried to sync my phone and couldn’t because it was too full. I couldn’t even update my podcasts because of all the pictures and videos taking up space — so I had to pare down. Deciding which photos and videos to save and which to delete was a challenge: what if I had a few minutes on the subway and wanted to look at pictures from a few years ago? I wasn’t ready.
3 age-appropriate ways to talk to kids and teens about media portrayals of sexual assault
I have this super awesome talent for thinking of the perfect thing to say hours later. A talent which is not in any way useful — unless you have a blog. In which case you can blog about it and get it all out. So here are three possible, age-appropriate, conversations you can have with your children about rape that I came up with.
Tips for breastfeeding a hospitalized baby
My baby was seven weeks old when he was hospitalized for the first time, and he was either not nursing, or not nursing well for two-to-three weeks. There were many times when he wasn’t allowed oral nutrition at all, and I pumped. The third time he was hospitalized, however, was really difficult.