Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
"The Burn"
When I was around 19 years of age, I was told that I would find it difficult to conceive naturally and that I would need help from the hospital once I was ready. I was told that I had a very common condition called PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). Over here in the UK I think the statistics are 1 in every 5 women, so quite a number! A whole 20%, in fact! I'd always imagined being a mom, right from being a little girl so this news was not something I had ever wanted to hear. As I grew older I had decided that, once I met my soul mate, I'd like to adopt as I wouldn't want to put my body and my mental state through all of the heartache that comes with disappointing IVF results or the negative pregnancy tests month after month so I had mentally prepared myself to never have to give birth! I met my soul mate and we discussed it. He was happy so long as I was in any way we decided to be parents, we would be parent nevertheless. Well, in the October of 2016, me and my partner found out we were pregnant! Naturally! No help, no doctors, no pills, and no IVF! My partner was over the moon, almost passing out all whilst I sat on the toilet repeating "shit, shit, shit." After all, I had never mentally prepared to grow a human, to give birth to am entire human! I was, well and truly, PETRIFIED!!
By Hannah Schofield7 years ago in Families
What Happens If Your Baby Is Born Earlier than Expected?
My friend Karen discovered this when she went into labor several weeks before her due date. Her husband was at work at the time, so she took a taxi to the hospital. After a substantial wait at the hospital, staff told her that she was several weeks too early. They sent her home.
By Andrea Dawson7 years ago in Families
Raising a Family in a System of Division
I don't want to talk about the things that affect me or hurt me for others to say things like I'm so sorry you're going through this or you are so inspirational to me. When I speak about the hard topics I speak about them in hopes to provoke change. To provoke a new way of thinking and a new approach that will not only benefit me but benefit those around me also affected by the hard topics. I am not looking for sympathy. I'm not looking for a hand out. I am simply telling it as it is. I've heard things like what do you expect, you decided to subject yourself to discrimination by living in boonie town. Well my response to that is this; I have experienced discrimination in boney town and in very diverse populations. It makes no difference where I live, the discrimination will always be there because my skin will always be brown. I have had coffee thrown at me while being told go back to where you came from while driving in Toronto, Ontario, a very diverse area and plenty of people of color. I have had someone stop their car, come out just to throw racial slurs at me out of the blue, me just minding my own business, oblivious of this attack. I have been told I was: a coon, a monkey, a nigger, a drug addict, all in a very culturally populated area. I have had smoke blown into my face while standing in a bus shelter and told that the welfare system is corrupted because of people like me and the other niggers who don't pay taxes (Wasn't even on the system and paid my taxes). I chose not to have my children be subjected to racial slurs and tensions by removing myself from this area. The incidents happened more frequent than I could wrap my head around them. I wanted my children to have the same or similar advantages of the average Canadian child. Not the average black child but the average Canadian child. So I moved to the boonies. In the boonies my kids have been able to utilize the extras the inner city schools won't get, like a decent education, access to music, sports, technology that they wouldn't otherwise had gotten in an inner city environment. I raised my kids to be the best them they can be, not to be the best black kid they can be. Race has been such a big issue lately that it causes some uproar of conversations at my dinner table. It causes tension within my own household because of the varying responses towards it. I have been silent for a long time while I mend the hurt feelings of my kids from being told they couldn't possibly have done an A plus job on an assignment because people of your color cannot possibly have the understanding to complete such complex things. I have had to simmer rage between siblings who have varying views on how a racial incident should be addressed. The unequal treatment of black males verse black females. I have had to deal with unresolved feelings from my children when called niggers, monkeys or pretty for a black girl. My kids have triggered this post because I have always said I will protect my children no matter what and help them be the best they can be. I write this with feelings of disservice to my children for not teaching them how to be black while growing up. My eldest said to me that she was happy to not be taught to be different because it allowed her to see herself for who she is and what she is capable of rather than a black girl plus whatever the title is that may be added. She believes that because she is able to see herself for her and not limited by her skin she is able to fight through the labels and barricades that society tries to place on her. My children are thriving despite the racial attacks whether passively or aggressively thrown their way. Why do I write this then some may ask. I write this because the first insult/swear words that my youngest has ever dealt with is being told she's a nigger. I write this because instead of the typical conversation of counseling my child on why people say hurtful things I have to add racism to the hurtful things. I write this because my kids cannot go anywhere without me knowing where they are for fear that them being late or unaccounted for could mean they were lynched or arrested (yes I worry about that in Canada). I write this because they fight. We fight for everything and or paths are constantly blocked. I feel defeated most days. I don't know how many different ways I have tried to be of comfort to my kids through everything they go through. I feel broken most days but I still have to build them up. I don't know how to continue to do this for them, my heart is hurting and I feel broken. When I advocate for my kids or I expect policies to be followed, our human rights to be granted, I have been told you're asking the right questions and these are the questions that needs to be answered. So who is going to answer the questions that mothers and fathers of color have about the injustice they experience and now their children experience. How can we stop talking about change and actually change something. Report and statistics will not change the emotional damage racism has on our entire society. This is not a black problem this is an everyone problem. I'm going to just end this by quoting one of my favorite quotes: "Be the change you want to see in the world".
By Trish Nala7 years ago in Families
Get Organized!
If you had told me a few years ago that I would become a mother at the age of 18, I probably would have laughed at you. In fact, even now I sometimes find my current life situation hard to believe. My life now consists of diapers (36 a day to be exact), nine or ten bottles, 12 sippy cups, and lots of naps. I have a two-year-old son, a one-year-old son, and a daughter who is a month old as I am writing this. Life can get pretty crazy in my house, I'm a stay at home mom whose main role in life is "mom." It can be easy to let yourself become overwhelmed if you have one kid, let alone three, so here's how this momma survives.
By Jessica Feral7 years ago in Families
Why My Son Lost Christmas this Year
My son has lost Christmas this year. Yes. You read me right. My son isn’t getting to celebrate Christmas. Before you get angry, take a moment to find out why. My son is very ungrateful. I have been using GameStop’s layaway program and scrimping and saving for an expensive present for him. $300 dollars worth. Something that I normally wouldn’t have been able to afford. I love my son dearly, and I want to see him happy. He has ADHD. What most people don’t realize about ADHD children is that electronics make them happy. They thrive on electronics. Everything electronics. His whole world revolves on electronics. I moderate his electronic time. Most of the time he does amazing. His behavior is very well managed when he is able to earn electronic time. He wanted a Nintendo Switch for Christmas. I knew that would make him very happy. I was buying it for him.
By Deena Hayes7 years ago in Families
How Children's Television Reminded Me of 5 Important Life Lessons
If you don't know me, then you may not know that I have a 3-year-old son, who pretty much rules the majority of my life. Outside of my long hours at work, my time is mostly spent with my son, Brycen. He's a little man on a mission 90% of the time, and he gets incredibly excited when he knows I'm about to come home from work. He spends his days counting down the hours, if he actually could count down, until I get home. Brycen is always daddy this or daddy that and he has picked up many of my mannerisms, to my wife's chagrin I'm sure.
By Matthew Bailey7 years ago in Families
Shoutout to the Single Dads. Top Story - November 2017.
Single Mum Survival Special: A Shoutout to the Single Dads Let's face it. Dads have got a bad rep. Let's be honest about it too, some women would have been better off going to Sweden and getting themselves a nice sperm donor (good genes without the hassle). Countless baby daddies are jumping from woman to woman like grasshoppers, siring children they don't give a second thought to once they've left. Maybe one day they will grow fat and bald, and the inadequacy of impotency may find them sitting in their armchairs thinking "I wonder how my son is doing?" They may make a somewhat feeble attempt to communicate with their various progeny out of guilt, to find themselves talking with a fully grown man or woman that doesn't want to know them. Stepfathers are walking stepdaughters down the isle in the absence of their biological parent, sons are growing up without a father figure and a single mother trying to make ends meet. It's easy to see why vitriolic abuse is hurled at these men. Yet the absentee father overshadows a very different kind of man. The single dad; he is the man who steps up, takes on the burden of playing both roles, and effectively too. He is the silent worker bee, tying up his daughter's hair before school.
By Eve Tawfick7 years ago in Families
Cancer Won, and I Think HE Cheated
I lost my mom to cancer in December 2010; I was 20 years old. I'm sure if you're reading this, you knew someone who has been touched by cancer. What am I saying!? You have known someone who has been slapped across the face by cancer. It sucks, especially if cancer wins.
By Erika Watson7 years ago in Families
Forgiveness is an Act of Consciousness
Has it every occurred to you that you would fall in love and marry someone outside your religion/ethnicity? Let me tell you a little story about myself. My name is Michelle, I am 22 years old I was born and raised in Chicago, IL. I was raised in an old-fashioned European lifestyle where respect is everything especially in the Polish culture. I live an average life, a perfect family and a toy poodle named Mia. Everything sounds good right? Wrong have you ever felt like you have everything but yet you're still unhappy. People always telling you what to do because they want you to be successful and not struggle like they did in life to get where they are? It was killing me inside, it led to altercations that didn't need to happen, it led to hatred between parents and siblings. It made me feel like I was always the bad guy because I felt trapped. You felt unheard of. So one day your friend gave you an opportunity to let yourself be you, let yourself be free and do what you want to do, so you move to another state.
By Michelle Zubek7 years ago in Families
My Experiences with Autism
Autism is a brain disorder that makes it difficult for the affected to communicate or relate to others. It is something that I am all too familiar with since my little brother suffers from it. For years he didn’t speak and when he finally started too only a few people could understand him. He also could not and still can not sit still for long periods of time. My brother is constantly rocking back and forth with repetitive hand motions as well as head motions that sway back and forth. He doesn’t like his daily routine interrupted because it is what he is used too. All through school he was in special education classes which were difficult for both of us. Teasing was something that was regular.
By Alyssa Horn7 years ago in Families