The difference between Day 2 postpartum and Day 3 was dramatic for me. One day I was a bit withdrawn and anxious as the nurses assisted me with breastfeeding; the next day I actually could not stop crying. I also couldn’t sleep or eat. I paced in my hospital room with a horrific sense of doom, like something was wrong with the baby or something was wrong with me and certainly like life would be terrible as soon as they released us.
Read moreIf 1950s Women Were Trapped, So are We
What ensnares women today is not that different from what ensnared them when our mothers were young. Instead of being the best wife, however, we’ve moved on to being the best mother. And even if we follow all the rules and recommendations, more rules will come along to show us that we’ve failed (that Fisher Price bike holds an electronic tablet for more ridicule-worthy screen time). We no longer worry about what our husband thinks of our hands, but we sure do worry that our son’s packed lunch won’t measure up to the one we saw on Instagram.
Read moreFree-Range Parenting Will Take Guts, Groups
Maybe moms finally have gotten tired of hovering over every art project. Maybe they are sick of the kids being inside. Maybe they’ve finally realized they don’t really want to sit and make small talk with someone else while their children have a playdate. (The best kind of “play dates,” by the way, are the ones where the mom drops off her kid so mine is entertained and I can mop the kitchen floor.)
Read moreWhat My Children Taught Me About Politics
My husband was on a year-long deployment overseas, and for each week that he was gone, we filled his empty seat at the dinner table with a new stranger. We hosted authors, musicians, school teachers, athletes, artists and even a zookeeper. We also hosted community and government leaders- - from both sides of the aisle.
Read moreColorblindness: The Childhood Disorder You Might Overlook
My husband and I speculated it was a behavior problem. Does he have ADHD?, we wondered. It seemed that Lindell could never sit still long enough to learn letters, numbers or colors. And the teachers at school commented on his reluctance to follow some instructions — ones like, “Go to the green table, Lindell.”
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