Why is the question—what makes you feel the most like you?—so often met with an extended pause? By Eve Rodsky
motherhood
With six children, you learn to spread anxiety thinly over everyone until it ceases to have much impact. By Jodi Bartle
I have a full-time job and yet I still feel like I’m waiting for my ex-husband to see me as an equal human. By Katherine Sargent
Somewhere in my garage there is a bin of all the tiny rubber boots my children used to wear. By Kim June Johnson
Not all recipes need to be cooked, but they all deserve to be read. By Tahnee Freda
Motherhood changes the way we think and feel about ourselves. We talked to Ilyse Dobrow DiMarco about how to cope with this upheaval.
When Steve died, I found it hard to imagine ever finding love again. By Sarah Kilch Gaffney
My mother was praised her whole life for her beauty; I preferred praise for my mind. By Emily Franklin
The Naked Baby Dance encompasses all of my favorite parts of toddlerhood. It is both silly and sincere. By Martha Quinn
We didn’t ask for this new life, this set of unattainable demands and responsibilities. By Karen Paul
In the past twelve months you have become Mama and Mommy and Mum, but you are also still you. By Emily Brisse
In our small town everyone talked about everyone else’s business, but no one talked to us about why our mom was sick.
By Elizabeth Creaswick
One of the rules in group therapy is no secrets. The members become your support system, and everyone can talk about anything they want, without limitations.
After my diagnosis, there was no question in anyone’s mind that my daughter was going to be bottle-fed. By Jenny Leon
Behind every “mommy brain” story, there’s a fuller picture. Modern motherhood makes impossible demands. By Nicole Graev Lipson
My daughter was born four weeks after I was diagnosed with breast cancer. By Jenny Leon
Have you ever watched a five-year-old pour a package of cooked green beans into a bowl? I have. And let me tell you, it nearly did me in. By Debra Arbit
Nothing epitomized the drudgery and boredom of those early parenting years quite like an afternoon at the park. By Ilyse Dobrow DiMarco
I heard the baby crying again, I didn’t get up. I was too hungover. By Victoria Vanstone
Obviously, a pandemic is an awful reason to decide to have another child. But that doesn’t stop me from thinking about it. By Amanda Gibson
Each project was meant to show a child’s mom that she is appreciated. Respected. Loved. By Wendy Kennar
We have plenty of coffee in our cupboard. What’s not in bloom has buds, promises, waiting. By Kara Gebhart Uhl
Shelter in place has become a cocoon where our family has slowly let this diagnosis of Down syndrome sink in. By Maggie Shafer
My kids are used to my loud, Jewish-mom complaining—but not this unkindness. Not this anxiety-fueled rage. By Hannah Grieco
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