Parenting

When we go shopping after school, I tell my son he has to leave his backpack in the car. When he wants to take a walk past dark with his friends, I tell him “no." He’s not allowed to play with guns that aren’t clearly Super Soakers. If we’re stopped by the police because our headlight is out, I say, “Remember what I taught you.”

"Mallory was never in contact with a person who had an active cold sore. Never. Nobody ever kissed her on the mouth."

"It’s really the biggest thing you need to know to homeschool effectively. And no, it’s not which curriculum to use."

"I carry the mental load for this family, I complete the invisible and thankless tasks. For me it's not just that one task, it's one less thing on my list, one less thing on my mind."

"The most heartbreaking validation comes from our bodies. Even when our babies stop living, the maternal instincts of the human body are strong. Our bodies are so committed to the existence of our babies that they continue on as if they were still alive."

"I didn’t cry on the first day of school. Not really my style, I guess. My children were ready and so was I. But the last? There were tears. A lot of tears. And that is largely thanks to their teachers."

"My girls didn’t have any Easter dresses. They didn’t have any pantyhose or patent leather shoes. No flower hats with matching purses."

"You want to know the weird thing about grief? It has no expiration date. He had passed away thirty years prior."