My kids are used to my loud, Jewish-mom complaining—but not this unkindness. Not this anxiety-fueled rage. By Hannah Grieco
Category Archive: Parenting Challenges
No matter how many times I failed, there wasn’t a month that went by that Hope didn’t convince me I was pregnant. By Amy Gallo Ryan
Look up, look around and listen. Here I am. Down the street or a phone call away. By Lisa Michelle
The last time I stood here I tried on eight dresses. I was fighting the side effects from chemo. I had no hair. By Krista Genevieve Farris
I breathe words like oxygen. They are everywhere. Except in the mouth of my child. By Leah Moore
We’ve had a rough time lately in ways that go beyond the ordinary awkward de-nesting of middle school. By Annie O’Brien
We pull ornaments from boxes labeled in my mother’s loopy cursive, giving our tree the same homespun look hers always had. By Mary Janevic
We are excited to share our most-read essays of the year!
I ignored her recipe for many years as a way to avoid the loss. By Marcia Kester Doyle
After bursting into tears, you text your brother-in-law: “Sorry, this is awkward, but make sure she doesn’t use a tampon for the bleeding.” By Lorren Lemmons
“Birth mom” does not make me feel like a baby machine without feelings, but it does clarify my role in her life. By Adrian Collins
As parents of older kids, socializing with other moms was apparently no longer part of the job description. By Anne Helena
Did my son really need a backpack every time he left the house? By Sherri Sacconaghi
I said goodbye to two decades’ worth of resources and relationships. It seemed perfectly appropriate for my emotions to go haywire. By Nicole Melanson
How exactly could I break this news to a kid who already went to bed every night scared of death to the point of tears? By Tanya Mozias Slavin
We don’t want our boys to be “cured.” There is no cure; autism is a chronic state, like arthritis, or love. By Elizabeth Michaelson Monaghan
Hearing “nonviable” is heartbreaking. Having to ignore that in front of 32 smiling second graders is even harder. By Caitlin Cherry
“Why is she like that?” my son asks. I hesitate. There’s no denying my mother’s passive aggressive disdain towards me. By Elizabeth Maria Naranjo
Is there any better teacher of life for a kid on the spectrum than a brother or sister? By Marya Markovich
How do I deal with my child’s social issues when I still haven’t worked through my own? By Amy Kline
“You’re a different person,” my husband said. This was years ago now. Thank god he was right. By Samantha Shanley
They are part of my life’s topography. Tiny specks on my map of choices, loves and losses, hurts and heartbreak. By Jordan Namerow
“I built it myself. What do you think?” My father didn’t look up, he just took a drink from his bottle and kept staring at the television. By John Graham
There’s Cooper, she’s at least a full head shorter than every other child on stage. This causes both attention and confusion. By Carina McLaughlin
Losing my mother, especially at a young age, was like losing my compass. By Gina Luongo