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
Category Archive: Family
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
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
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
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
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
Do people really believe a baby’s size is a reliable precursor of his future happiness, intelligence, or even physical prowess? By Kelsey Osgood
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
I was only thinking of miles, forgetting then, as I would many times, that part of parenting is sacrifice. By Paul Crenshaw
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
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!
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
When the children are gone will I be something flimsier, something less than I was before? By Lauren Apfel
Already in love with the boy’s father, I wanted to build something special with his son too.
By Hillary Vaillancourt
At the onset of adulthood we are, in so many ways, revisiting the days of infancy.
By Francie Arenson Dickman
I want him out in the world. But this process—the leaving process—is excruciating.
By Emily Franklin
By stuffing my backpack with toys and dolls, I realized I was trying to control my children’s adventure.
By Andrea Hannah
The stories I make up for my child are more powerful than any book, because she is the heroine.
By Lauren Kosa
I love my baby, but I miss my relationship with my husband terribly.
By Abigail Rasminsky
Our family square is about to become a triangle and I’m not sure my son will be ready for it.
By Randi Olin
I needed to embrace the role of supportive parent, to leave the coaching to my daughter’s coaches. But I just couldn’t do it.
By Keith Landry
I wish the kids could stay this age forever—on the cusp of leaving, but never leaving—only I know it would not end well. By Catherine Newman
He’s passing as a boy now—as long as he binds his breasts.
By Katrin Grace
I wait for sleep, for the fever to break, the tooth to fall out, the rash to go away.
By Zsofia McMullin
Sorry, can’t make it to the sorority reunion. My thermometer says I’m ovulating!
By Amy Klein