“’Will I be okay?’ my children ask me as the mass shootings in America continue. None of us like my answer.”
parenthood
Posted inNonfiction
The Struggle of Having a Pandemic Baby
Giving birth in the last year has meant a suffocatingly cloistered, rather than a communal, experience.
Posted inEditor's Pick
Since I Became Symptomatic
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.