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parenthood

Posted inEditor's Pick

Every Day I Worry My Kids Will Be Killed at School

by Seyward Darby April 7, 2023April 7, 2023

“’Will I be okay?’ my children ask me as the mass shootings in America continue. None of us like my answer.”

Posted inNonfiction

The Struggle of Having a Pandemic Baby

by Carolyn Wells March 15, 2021October 14, 2022

Giving birth in the last year has meant a suffocatingly cloistered, rather than a communal, experience.

Posted inEditor's Pick

Since I Became Symptomatic

by Sari Botton March 26, 2020October 19, 2022

A month after filing for divorce, single mom Leslie Jamison contracted COVID-19. She wrote this meditation on single parenthood, loneliness, longing, and frustration while sheltering in place — and sweating out the virus — with her 2-year-old daughter.

Posted inFiction, Highlight, Quotes

Sit Back, Relax, and Try Not To Think About the Hole We’re Making In Your Skull

by michelleweber February 3, 2020October 19, 2022

You can understand how the dura mater connects to the arachnoid mater, but that doesn’t mean you understand the mind.

Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Highlight, Nonfiction, Quotes

Airbrushing Out the Evidence of Her Son’s Differences

by Sari Botton October 30, 2019October 19, 2022

Are you really achieving representation for your child with special needs if you’re only sharing the upbeat, attractive photos on social media?

Posted inEditor's Pick

Why I Discuss My Son’s Autism on Social Media

by Sari Botton October 30, 2019October 19, 2022

A personal essay in which Alysia Abbott writes about the importance of presenting her autistic son on social media — fostering inclusiveness, normalizing his differences, connecting with other parents with similar children — and confesses her tendency to often only show him in the most flattering light.

Posted inEssays & Criticism, Feature, Nonfiction, Story

In a World Full of Cruelty and Injustice, Becoming a Mother Anyway

by Eliza Margarita Bates July 26, 2019February 10, 2023

A visit to Auschwitz makes Eliza Margarita Bates only more determined to have a baby, despite her painful chronic illness.

Posted inNonfiction

Game of Crones

by Laura Lippman May 6, 2019March 31, 2023

It wasn’t entirely Laura Lippman’s idea to become a mother in her 50s. But when it happened, she leaned in hard.

Posted inNonfiction

Bracing for the Silence of an Empty Nest

by Michelle Cruz Gonzales April 12, 2019April 21, 2023

As her son finishes high school and prepares to leave for college, Michelle Cruz Gonzales looks back on his early years as a pianist and anticipates a future without the sound of his playing filling the house.

Posted inEditor's Pick

Everything is Fine

by Sari Botton March 14, 2019October 19, 2022

A personal essay in which Sara Fredman thinks about the voices in her life, as she raises young children and reckons with her fading father.

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