I have to tell my awesome nurses story. About 3 years ago I was in the ICU because I had blood clots all over my lungs and one in my heart holding a valve partially open. This meant, among other things, that a sudden jolt or even walking to the bathroom could kill me by making the clots shift and I couldn’t take…

Seriously. I’m a single mom of an adopted child who’s only three and I’m already dealing with family norms that make him feel left out, not good enough, etc. The other day he was in tears because he couldn’t do his homework. The teacher said, let’s do a project on the self! Have your mom and dad fill out the answers…

Yep. About a year and a half into mommy-hood I had a serious crisis of identity that felt like the moment Samantha on SATC starts throwing sushi and screaming “I am not the kind of woman who [talks endlessly about diapers and sleep training]!” except the person I was mad at was a toddler asleep in the next room who…

Not all rules carry the same moral weight and necessity. If we want our kids to actually think instead of just following orders we should teach them to think about things like necessity, harm to others, courtesy, cultural norms, underlying moral principles, etc instead of teaching them “rules are rules.” It’s also a…

When I quit my job teaching high school and went to grad school, the thought upper most in my mind was “Hallelujah, I’ll never have to write another uniform violation detention slip again.” I love teaching. Enforcing petty school rules is just the absolute worst. It wastes teachers’ time. It teaches students there’s…

Yup. My best friend’s parents are both lawyers. They’ve been practicing law for a combined 60 years. Her step-mom is a family lawyer who has acted as a guardian ad litem in numerous nasty divorces and child abuse cases. Both of them have told us repeatedly that you say nothing to cops except “I want my lawyer.”…

To be fair, black widows can be dangerous for small children. But I’m scared of spiders and I just stomp on them. I don’t know why her kids weren’t allowed out of the house. That’s just ridiculous.

I’ll admit it. I do not get the Peanuts love, regardless of era. Who needs to watch little kids be mindlessly petty to each other on the comic pages? You can do that by observing your own kids/siblings. But kids are a good bit more complex and more child-like (being actual children) that Schultz ever made them. I did…

Here’s the FCAC’s email address in case anyone wants to express your displeasure.

Yup. There’s “I prefer to wake up later” and then there’s “my circadian rhythms don’t give a damn what time I have to be awake tomorrow no matter what I do or how many years I’ve been on this early morning schedule.” People just don’t seem to understand the difference.

Wait, what? I’m an English professor. I routinely travel with books and stacks of student papers thicker and bigger than that in my carry on. I’ve never had it hand checked for that reason.

I applaud your attitude and approach. However, I’m a foster parent so I know this can lead to felony neglect charges in most states. Yes, even with the AC on. Just warning you.

I’m a mom of a three year old and he is the apple of my eye / answer to prayer / my little miracle etc. You get the picture. But there is no way I would let him scream for ten minutes, let alone 40 in a public place where I had access to a door. Best piece of parenting advice my mom ever gave me was “If they know you…

Cases like this make me simultaneously want to defend this woman for doing the best she could in a bad situation and say “Eh, there could be other factors.” That’s the thing about child protection cases in the news - there’s only so much reporting that can be done because of laws protecting the children’s privacy. I’m…

Hi Sings with Fishes. I’m a licensed foster parent. I attend every court date for kids in my care, so I have LOTS of experience with children’s court. The level of incompetence, disregard for the law, callousness toward children’s needs, and sheer randomness displayed by judges and GALs will blow your mind. Judges do…

Couldn't have said it better myself. Count me as one of the feminist opposition. I'll be over here with my friends (male and female) who believe that a happy relationship (of any kind) involves mutual respect and care.

Baloney. This is just what whiners say to justify not having to examine their own behavior. Nice job reducing all women to a cheap, dehumanizing stereotype.