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Category Archive: Family

How to increase the joy in sibling relationships

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Make sure your children have time together without you. Encourage their collective independence. By KJ Dell’Antonia

July 26, 2018 Books, Family

Will I still make my banana bread when my nest is empty?

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Parenting isn’t like baking. The ingredients you mix together aren’t the same with each kid. By Randi Olin

June 20, 2018 Family

Punishment by weeding, a tale of fatherhood

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I’d tried to make my sons do various jobs over the years, all with disastrous results. By David McGlynn

June 15, 2018 Books, Family

Humor | How to survive the camp mom group chat

colorful tents in dark forest
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What if your daughter shows up at the bunk without enough stationery or hair ties? You’d never forgive yourself. By Wendy Siegel

May 15, 2018 Family

Why it’s okay to be a hands-off grandmother

Grandma looking into baby's eyes
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Unlike the majority of her peers, my mom does not consider being a grandma the single most important and satisfying aspect of her life. By Lauren Apfel

May 2, 2018 Family

Perspective | Thank you, Donald Trump, for making my teenager care

Graffiti fist on brick wall
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Some lessons about social justice, no matter how terrible, are better learned by living than by lecture. By Francie Arenson Dickman

May 1, 2018 Culture, Family

My son chose comedy instead of college

empty stand-up comedy stage
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I decided to stop asking Austin about his plan. I decided to stop suggesting pathways and careers to him, as if I were a marketing director of adulthood. By Ann marie Houghtailing

April 19, 2018 Family, Parenting Challenges

The very last bath of childhood

two little boys covered in bath-time bubbles
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I can’t imagine a time without children in my house, just as one month ago I could not imagine an evening without bath time. By Kelli Kirk

April 18, 2018 Family

My tangled relationship with my daughter’s hair

young blonde girl brushes her hair
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We are forever snarled in each other’s hair, my daughter and I, invested in the consistency of the people we know best and need most. By Leslie Kendall Dye

April 9, 2018 Family, Parenting Challenges

Why I opted out of mommy speak

silhouette of mother counseling young boy
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I’ve never used expressions like potty, criss-cross applesauce, boo-boo and its sad cousin owie. They make me feel like an imposter. By Rosemary Harp

March 22, 2018 Family

My daughter is on her semester abroad, so why do we talk every day?

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Yes, I am enjoying a front row seat to my daughter’s semester in Cape Town. But I still wonder whether all this technology is giving us too much access to our kids. By Randi Olin

March 8, 2018 Culture, Family

Home again, this time caring for my mother

purple leaves flying like birds off a black tree
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You’re there because some nights she gets lost in the hallway on the way to the bathroom. You’re there because she has lost herself. By Amie McGraham

March 5, 2018 Family

Why are we so fixated on the weight of our babies?

infant being weighed in a basket
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Do people really believe a baby’s size is a reliable precursor of his future happiness, intelligence, or even physical prowess? By Kelsey Osgood

February 8, 2018 Family, Parenting Challenges

When a house is no longer home to the grown children

painted buildings on blue background
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Home is where I raised them, watched them grow and then take flight. Maybe that’s why every time they leave now, it’s a reminder of when they left for good. By Morgan Baker

January 28, 2018 Family

The time we lost my daughter’s favorite doll in a roadside hotel

Dark windy road heading towards mountainous background
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I was only thinking of miles, forgetting then, as I would many times, that part of parenting is sacrifice. By Paul Crenshaw

January 18, 2018 Family

The last pause of motherhood

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It’ll only occur to me months later, in the flurry of taking you to college, that this was the quiet part before the big crescendo. By Jennifer Niesslein

January 11, 2018 Family

Motherwell’s most popular posts of 2017

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Motherwell features parenting essays on culture, family life, obstacles and the process of overcoming them. We are excited to announce this year’s ten most read!

December 14, 2017 Culture, Family, Parenting Challenges

My middle child’s quest to be declared “officially amazing”

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If birth order has anything to do with it, our six-year-old just might have a decent chance at setting a Guinness World Record. By Kate Lemery

September 27, 2017 Culture, Family

Practicing who I will be when my kids are out of the house

A sketch of a woman's head with her face a palette of painted colours
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When the children are gone will I be something flimsier, something less than I was before? By Lauren Apfel

September 19, 2017 Family, Parenting Challenges

The day my stepson said I love you

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Already in love with the boy’s father, I wanted to build something special with his son too.
By Hillary Vaillancourt

September 7, 2017 Family, Parenting Challenges

As my kids turn sixteen, reflections on the then and now

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At the onset of adulthood we are, in so many ways, revisiting the days of infancy.
By Francie Arenson Dickman  

August 29, 2017 Family

The unfeathering of the nest as my son leaves for college

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I want him out in the world. But this process—the leaving process—is excruciating.
By Emily Franklin

August 24, 2017 Family

Why I no longer distract my kids when we travel

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By stuffing my backpack with toys and dolls, I realized I was trying to control my children’s adventure.
By Andrea Hannah

August 17, 2017 Family

How storytelling helps my daughter stand up for herself

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The stories I make up for my child are more powerful than any book, because she is the heroine.
By Lauren Kosa

August 3, 2017 Family

The myth of the instant family

drawing of a mother and child cuddling on a bed
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I love my baby, but I miss my relationship with my husband terribly.
By Abigail Rasminsky

August 1, 2017 Family, Parenting Challenges

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