It doesn’t seem quite right to just toss these pearly whites in the trash (no matter how much I thanked them, with all due respect to Ms. Kondo). By Anne Brinser Shelton
children and childhood
I wait for sleep, for the fever to break, the tooth to fall out, the rash to go away.
By Zsofia McMullin
We were unwittingly showing our daughter that being a mother excludes other possibilities.
By K.C. Willivee
My daughter loves her little brother dearly, it’s just that she’s outgrown him.
By Elizabeth Maria Naranjo
In an age of instant gratification, we are all losing the ability to focus on larger amounts of text—and that’s worrisome.
By Lauren Apfel
It made me spitting mad, the way the daily duties of parenting and home ownership began to rest entirely on me.
By Hope Edelman
I cling to the knowledge that if I have given her anything, I have given her hope. I see it in her smile.
By Jenn O’Connor
If actively fearing for your children’s safety is a natural instinct, my maternal hardwiring must be faulty.
By Lauren Apfel
Photographs suggested a future, a future in which we would look back at this moment, but a future where our baby might be gone.
By Yvonne Spence
One mother’s experience getting through the day, now that she knows Trump is the President of the United States.
By Sara Ackerman
When my daughter smiles, she is not a “beauty queen.” She smiles because she is happy.
By Marina Koestler Ruben
Our no cursing rule is one way I maintain the boundary between child and adult.
By Lisa Sadikman
I am shocked still by the parenting moments that break my heart.
By Catherine Newman
Nowhere in my plans was talking to a stranger about teaching basic social skills. Nowhere in my plans was autism.
By Katie Read
It’s important for parents to let their children take big bites of independence once in a while, even if it feels scary.
By Lauren Apfel
Beyond the pillow fights and giggles, how can we make sure our kids will be safe when they sleep at a friend’s house?
By Randi Olin
I wondered if my daughter would grow up to hate me for forcing her to do things—like I hated my parents.
By Anna Gracia
As parents, how do we keep moving forward in the face of one tragedy after another?
By Morgan Baden
If I throw out the lunch box, will I be throwing these memories away with it?
By Daisy Alpert Florin
There are many subtle ways in which we teach our children it’s okay for someone to take what they want from another’s body.
By Gail Cornwall
Surely what boys and girls gain from playing together should outweigh any inconvenience of having to organize separate changing areas.
By Lauren Apfel
I wonder in which direction of social acceptance Charlie’s drum will lead.
By Sara Petersen
It is an awesome responsibility to be entrusted with the care of someone’s child, but for the first time I’m less anxious about it.
By Teri Carter
Both my children hate being around me and water—I’m the parent whose urgent, borderline hysteria ruins all the fun.
By Christie Tate
If calling me Mrs. Badzin makes me seem more uptight than other people’s parents, I almost welcome that boundary.
By Nina Badzin