In a quiet, distant voice I tell my husband that I want to die. Not exactly dead, I clarify, but not this. By Laura G. Owens
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
Here I am at the sink again. Here I am signing the kids up for soccer again. Here I am preparing for the holidays again. Wash, rinse, repeat. By Ilyse Dobrow DiMarco
Using script forces a child’s brain to slow down. It allows for deeper thoughts, more expansive word choices, and increased imagination. By Michelle Riddell
Perhaps the fish were feeble replacements for all that we had lost, but they were also hopeful things. By Samantha Shanley
I don’t want to mess this up. I live in fear of being seen as a privileged person with an accessory on my arm. By Jenn O’Connor
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
It’s old-school knowledge seasoned with new-school methods validated by hands-on experience.
Eighteen years later, nothing has changed. All the firsts I had been praying for never came. By Shauna Actis
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
Fourteen teenagers and three teachers are dead who were not dead a few of weeks ago, and my house is falling apart, and my children are at school. By Brianne DeRosa
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
Coming to peace with the reality that you can’t make your kid do things is actually liberating. By William Stixrud and Ned Johnson
Nobody will send flowers. You don’t even have a face to conjure when you think of this child. By Maggie Downs
Catherine Newman offers advice to a grandmother, who is raising her 15-year-old grandson, about the reality of teenagers and conflict.
My son plays Fortnite. I’m not worried he will grow up to be violent because of it; I’m worried how the toxic masculinity it portrays affects us all. By Sharon Holbrook
To throw away the cigarettes, and choose to run instead. To stop running when my hips hurt, and walk instead. By Kathleen Harris
As we reel from watching yet another school shooting, we must look closely at what we are asking of our teachers. By Kim Simon
Not only does homework lack academic benefits for young children, but it’s also replacing other fun, developmentally appropriate, and valuable activities. By Jessica Smock
Do people really believe a baby’s size is a reliable precursor of his future happiness, intelligence, or even physical prowess? By Kelsey Osgood
I’m not sure when doing nothing after school fell out of favor. As a kid, I was a pro at nothing. We all were. By Francie Arenson Dickman
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
For what seems like a single frame of the video, I see my child silhouetted in the lights of the oncoming car. By Ian Smith
I was only thinking of miles, forgetting then, as I would many times, that part of parenting is sacrifice. By Paul Crenshaw
I’m terrified that my teenager, who has Down syndrome, won’t ever find real love—and also that she will, but that it won’t be the right kind. By Amy Silverman