The real scoop on being a feminist mom.
I have cried every day this week. Grad school, depression, and parenting are colluding to convince me that I will never be happy, that I am not the student or parent or partner I want and need to be, that I will always disappoint and fail those around me and myself.
As the end of June creeps up on me, something else is creeping up as well: Gabe’s first birthday and the point where we discus weaning. While I adore my son and the benefits of breastfeeding, I am also looking forward to regaining my body as my own.
At one point or another, many of us will either have kids or have friends who have kids. Believe me when I say that your kid-bearing friends still want to hang out with you, despite constantly turning down your Facebook invites to parties, barbecues, and shows. We still want to socialize, it’s just that socializing […]
I’ve been lucky enough to stay at home with my son for the first nine months of his life, and will continue to do so until he’s a year old. This summer, however, we have to go through the great separation. Yep, it’s time for childcare.
There comes a time when, if you have a baby, you’ll need to carry that baby somewhere. And that somewhere will be someplace that’s inconvenient with a stroller and is too far to carry them bare-armed comfortably. It’s at that moment when you’ll realize the value of a good baby carrier. When I was pregnant, […]
I wish I could explain the urge in me to have another baby. In the past 24 hours, I’ve gotten less than three hours’ sleep, been bitten and scratched by my darling progeny, and spent hours sitting on the floor and pushing a wooden car over things for his amusement while my adult responsibilities went […]
There are terrible things about babies, and there are awesome things about babies. What’s exceptionally awesome? Their inability to fake an emotion. Babies are the most brutally honest people you’ll meet.
Breastfeeding has been one of the most difficult and rewarding experiences of my life. It’s intimate, it’s painful, it’s made me cry, and it’s the second-biggest sacrifice I’ve made with my body. Starting Gabe on solids, by contrast, has been easy, funny, and an experience that we’ve been able to share with friends and family.
In the past few weeks, the issue of contraception as valid health care has come into the spotlight. While I’m not surprised that the Republican party has decided to rally against it under the guise of “religious liberty,” I am surprised that, for a party that claims to be fiscally conservative, they wouldn’t acknowledge the […]
I came up with this column idea while sitting in my car on Alki, staring at the Seattle skyline and trying not to cry. It was 9:30 p.m. on Monday, and I’d shoved my darling baby at my darling husband, announced I was leaving for a while, and walked out the door. I’d been awake […]
I wish someone would have rather graphically explained to me what happens when you’re a parent and you’re sick. You know the sweet relief of crawling into bed in the middle of the day, hopped up on cold medicine, and ready to doze the afternoon away? Kiss it goodbye, because you won’t see it for […]
Being a feminist and parenting a son are, for me, two equally important things that may not always co-exist peacefully. I am constantly questioning if the language and behavior used around him or about him is unfairly stereotyped, or if I’m pursuing a level of lifetime hyper-vigilance that is uncomfortable to maintain at all times.
A year ago this week, we saw Gabe for the first time. At the time, he wasn’t “Gabe,” he was a thing, an idea, a possibility.
This week, Gabe finally left behind the baby-potato stage for good: he started crawling. This, in conjunction with his new diet involving solid foods, has forced me to reconsider my offspring. No longer is he just an infant, a squalling lump with a propensity for pooping through his clothing, but he’s a baby on the […]
Last year, I made one resolution: to give birth to a healthy child who wouldn’t grow up to kill and eat people. Thus far, I’m willing to say I’ve succeeded. This year, my resolution is again Gabe-centric: to accept the limits of what I can do with our time together, and to enjoy what I […]