We are a generation of parents who micromanage our children’s safety. And yet, despite the very real fear of death, we keep sending them to school. By Francie Arenson Dickman
parenting teens
Did my son really need a backpack every time he left the house? By Sherri Sacconaghi
Be bold. The book you suggest could save a kid’s life. By Melissa Hart
I wanted to believe that bringing teenagers into our life would make it easier to let them go. I was wrong. By Meredith Gordon Resnick
This has become our routine: reliving each event point by point, trying to trigger a memory. By Amy Roost
College counselor and admissions expert, Sara Harberson, offers valuable insight into the nitty gritty of the application process.
My daughter is trapped inside, trying to make admissions counselors she doesn’t know fall in love with her. By Sandra A. Miller
I’ve always told my sons that “boys will be boys” is neither a license nor an excuse. To hear that rhetoric used to erase Christine Ford’s allegations makes me want to scream. By Deborah Lindsay Williams
When my son was 11 he told me, “I wish I wasn’t autistic. It would be easier to make friends.” By Joanne De Simone
The toddler parents were looking at me in wonder, as if they couldn’t believe their children would ever be old enough to go into the exam room alone. By Deborah Lindsay Williams
Parenting isn’t like baking. The ingredients you mix together aren’t the same with each kid. By Randi Olin
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
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
Coming to peace with the reality that you can’t make your kid do things is actually liberating. By William Stixrud and Ned Johnson
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
Motherwell introduces UMPTEEN: Catherine Newman’s not-so-ordinary advice column for the parents of teens.
I had spent the last sixteen years keeping my son safe and warm. Was I going to do just the opposite in an effort to help him? By Jeannette Sanderson
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
We trot her out into the world, trying to help her gain confidence through exposure. But it only lasts for so long.
By Linda Pressman
Our family square is about to become a triangle and I’m not sure my son will be ready for it.
By Randi Olin
She slid into anorexia at 16. She stopped smiling. She ignored her friends. She counted almonds.
By Amy Rumizen
He’s passing as a boy now—as long as he binds his breasts.
By Katrin Grace
When you’re a parent, you have to believe that no matter what your child does or says they still deserve to be loved.
By Erika Sauter
All the years of doing and hoping, praying and sculpting—you wait to see if it worked.
By Lisa Romeo