parents

The boundless love a parent has for their child is matched only by their capacity to embarrass them.

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My dad sent me his first WeChat message last March. It wasn't text. It was a three‑second voice clip. I tapped it. All I heard was breathing, and after two seconds, he said: "Did you get it?" Then nothing.
By Jinabout a month ago in Families
Blame and Shame
I never thought I would ever be ashamed of my daughter. I've seldom been more wrong than I was about this. I've never been more ashamed of anything in my entire life than I currently am of her. What's the cause, aside from the blatant disrespect of her calling me a whore on social media? She convicted me and handed down a mandatory sentence without even listening to my side of the story.
By Harper Lewis about a month ago in Families
My First Metal Gig For 25 Years! But What The Helloween Should I Wear?
Black leather biker jacket covered in scuffs. Studded wrist band that looks suspiciously like a deadly weapon. A huge wad of thick greasy hair reaching all the way down to some deliberately torn jeans. All very acceptable. Don’t you think?
By Simon Aylwardabout a month ago in Families
Why I Left My Mom- Intro
Have you ever left an abuser and all of sudden, years of actions they did that always felt uncomfortable- but you didn't know why, are clear now? Like the filter has been taken off? Like you just woke up and realized everything that had been truly happening this entire time? Right in front of you?
By Melissa Leighabout a month ago in Families
My August in January
There are moments in life you know will come, yet you can’t prepare for them. Like seasons at their end, you know they come; you may even be anxious for them, but once they happen, you lament the past. You grieve what has gone by the wayside, even knowing it will return again, new.
By Alexandra Grantabout a month ago in Families
The Honest Truth I Wish Someone Had Told Me
Age 5 Their grief was never yours to carry. You were a child trying to understand why people disappeared, why hearts broke, why home didn’t always feel safe. It was never your job to become the emotional caretaker for the adults around you. They were supposed to notice your tears. They were supposed to ask if you were okay.
By Emily Burkardabout a month ago in Families
Is This Hell?
It’s too hot for this. I’m lying in bed attempting to write while my son bangs his little, big head on my lower back and hip. As he’s ramming into me like a wild bull all I can do is sit with the flames and prevent myself from erupting. I’ve been a volcano lately. It’s been too hot for this. My stepdaughter has been bullying me, saying my breath stinks, when she has 12 cavities and four of them silver plates in her teeth. It’s too dang hot for this. My three-year old, Aje, keeps eating out the trash and it’s driving me freaking insane. My man is so perfect that I expect him to be perfect all of the time. When he doesn’t meet or exceed my expectations, I’m extremely hard on him. And this is driving both of us crazy. When you finally realize you’re a little toxic too. Is it getting hot in here?! When your one-year-old continues to eat off of the floor and it gives you mini heart aches. I think I’m going to pass out. When your three-year-old won’t stop writing on the darn WALLS! When your seven-year-old, stepdaughter, is trying to teach you how to raise YOUR kids that YOU pushed out for HOURS! OH, MY LORD IS THE WALLS CAVING IN?! When your man has such a soft spot for his daughter that he doesn’t realize she’s manipulating him most of the time to get her way. Yeah, I said it… When you don’t express everything, you feel inside your home because you don’t want to hurt someone's feelings, you let it build up inside until it explodes and then you end up hurting someone anyway. Yeah, I can’t breathe. When your son is still learning how to pee in the toilet, you have to clean and blow dry a mattress every day. When your son KEEPS eating out the trash after you’ve consistently punished him for it. When your one-year-old son types on the keyboard with you and he says, “I’m going to be JUUUST like you when I grow up, mommy.” (Okay that was kind of cute)
By Nalaabout a month ago in Families
My Parents Have One Son to Be Proud Of, and It's Not Me
At this point, I have written many times about how I have screwed up my life over and over, and how I am still now at a point of desperation and trying to climb up hill battles to fix myself and my life. Well, I have an older brother who, of course, has made his fair share of mistakes as well. However, unlike me, he generally does everything he is meant to do and then goes beyond that a little further.
By Timothy A Rowlandabout a month ago in Families
The First Saturday in August
I came home from the cemetery this afternoon with my heart still on the mountain. Every first Saturday in August, families from my little community of Spillcorn, located in Marshall, North Carolina, gather to decorate the graves of those who came before us. It has been part of our lives for as long as anyone can remember. My grandparents made that walk. My mother made it for most of her life. Today, I carried flowers to her grave.
By Tim Carmichaelabout a month ago in Families
The Number That Ate the Child: What We Actually Measure When We Measure “Giftedness”
The first time I sensed something was off about “identifying giftedness” was while designing a set of figural reasoning items for a gifted‑child screening. The task asked children to pick, from six options, “the most creative combination of shapes.” We had defined creativity for scoring purposes as the degree to which an option broke the implied symmetry of the item stem while maintaining a sense of visual balance. One child chose the answer we had keyed as the most creative. In the post‑test interview, I asked him why. He said, “Because it looks like my mom’s eyebrows when she’s angry.”
By Jin2 months ago in Families
Quality Time
How are you doing today? I know the heat is bringing out all kinds of emotions, but the sun also brings people outdoors. Yes, we seek shade and water, but when we stop for iced coffees and ice creams, we see people do the same.
By Elizabeth Woods2 months ago in Families
The Daily Call
The teenage years with my son were difficult. I knew they would be. It’s just the way life is. As kids get older, they stretch their wings and push their boundaries. My son was a typical teenager.
By Alexandra Grant2 months ago in Families