parents
The boundless love a parent has for their child is matched only by their capacity to embarrass them.
Butterfly Kisses
My father didn't cry at my wedding, and I was glad. I wouldn't have known what to do or how to react if he did. In fact, I went to great lengths to ensure that he wouldn't, because if he, someone I never saw cry, started crying, then I would start crying. That included abolishing the traditional father-daughter dance (though it wasn't the only one my husband and I abolished), and thus saving myself from the heart-tugging, tear-jerking beauty of the song Butterfly Kisses. I'd already succumbed to that song once, in one of my classes at university, and I didn't want to ever do so publicly again.
By Marie Sinadjan2 years ago in Families
The Loss of a Father
I wish this could be a story about how great of a relationship I had with my father. I wish I could tell you about how he loved my mother so deeply and cherished every moment with us. I wish I could say he came to every dance recital and encouraged me to be myself.
By Jennifer Chapman2 years ago in Families
Motherhood
Hi, this was me before becoming a momma. I know, who is she? She didn’t have a real worry in the world. This was me before even thinking of doing hours and hours of research on ovulation. This was me before my OCD kicked into overdrive. This was me before the endless tears after months of negatives appeared in front of me. This was before I even knew what a pandemic was. Shortly after the pandemic started is when I decided to start trying for a baby, because I also, like many other women, decided to have a baby while the world was slowly falling a part. I figured that I could bring a bit of joy into this chaotic world. Whenever I went on social media, all I could see were pregnant women. Beautiful and glamorous pregnant women. They would prepare their nurseries, they would prepare their postpartum toiletries, they would buy all these beautiful clothes for their very small human that they spent nine months making. It seemed like there were no negatives to being pregnant. It almost seemed perfect. It is an honour to be pregnant and to become a mom I often thought. I would see videos of their partners rubbing their beautiful pregnant bellies. I would see their partners holding them through every difficult moment. I wanted that too. I wanted it more than anything I have ever wanted in my life. So it became my new obsession.
By Roxanne Bédard2 years ago in Families
The Reader
VOCAL: Dads Are No Joke “That shark is the size of our driveway”. The very words that my Dad whispered to me in a packed movie threatre in July of 1975. I was only five but he took me to see JAWS with him. I was mesmerized by the whole thing. Later in the movie, he whispered, “That shark is made of rubber”, because he didn’t want me to be scared. And that’s the kind of Dad he was.
By Lynn Henschel2 years ago in Families
Summer Magic
My younger siblings probably assumed we were camping just for fun. What family wouldn’t want to get away from the sweltering city to the whispering, pine-scented woods? But I was the oldest, nearly out of high school, and I knew that we had packed up everything and headed out to live in tents in the national park for the summer because we couldn’t afford rent.
By Heidi Unruh2 years ago in Families
The Secret to Being a Good Father
Being a good parent is difficult. We want to protect our children from bad events. But unfortunately, our world isn't as safe as it was a generation ago. Seventy-five years ago, families left their houses unlocked at night. Kids came home from school without the constant lecture, "Don't talk to strangers." And we usually left the car keys in the ignition when it was parked in the driveway. It was OK to hitchhike from home to the center of town. Those were the good ole days. What have we become now? Sadly, we can't go back.
By Zante Cafe2 years ago in Families