High School

My son, who is entering the 12th grade, and I  spend a lot of time talking about his future. One thing that’s starting to frighten him is deciding what he wants to do with the rest of his life. I get it. That’s a huge decision for a seventeen-year-old. What do I want to do every day for the rest of my working life? Some days I still question my choices and I’m well over 17. As a parent, it’s my job to guide him in the right direction without pushing him. I know the paths I could see him taking, but whenever I mention those options he immediately dismisses them. I trust that if I’m right, then he’ll come...

I have seen a Facebook post circulating, asking “When did you first experience racism?” Due to #BlackoutTuesday I will be sharing my experience. Here is my story. Junior year prom. I had all the plans made and was ready — pictures at my parents' house with my date/high school boyfriend, then pictures before dinner with a large group of friends, dinner with that same group of friends, prom, after party, then stay at a friend's house with a large group. The night went perfectly until my mother received a call that I and my two black friends could not come over because there was no room for us to sleep. At the time, my mom made it seem like she just...

Dear High School Senior, There are probably a lot of emotions running through you right now. At some point in the not-too-distant-past, you felt a jolt of electricity when the announcement first hit – school was cancelled for two weeks. Although there were other important milestones that fell to the friendly fire, they were usually accompanied with terms like “postponed” and “rescheduled.” As the days mounted but before the Netflix shows became stale, those words morphed into one reverberating clanging – “cancelled.” The mourning began. There’s a prom dress that is still veiled in its plastic sheath. There are cleats in the closet that have barely pierced the grass. But there was one that you kept up home of adorning –...

The days have not been pleasant, but the memes have been nothing short of gold. A nation of children suddenly barred from their schools. Parents and guardians left analyzing Moodle, Google classroom, or pages of light grey workbook pages. Some set up makeshift classrooms in the dining room, others at the kitchen counter. Suddenly my J.K. Rowling inner monologue clues me onto one certainty – teachers everywhere are universally appreciated. As the first week crawled along like an 18-wheeler with the parking brake engaged, there was a small shift in the narrative I could see in my social media: pledges of a lack of parent-led teaching at home, and the world is now a classroom. I certainly have empathy for those...

There are playdates, pregnancy groups, and mommy groups of many kinds. I see them at parks or whenever I’m scrolling my newsfeed on Facebook. I think that’s awesome, after all- giving birth is some WORK, y’all. It takes its toll on the body, on the spirit, and on self-confidence. Afterward, we mamas have months of sleepless nights, leaky breasts, and crying babies. We hear going into motherhood how HARD pregnancy can be, newborns can be, toddlers can be, and then we quickly discover that everybody was right as soon as our babies hit all of those milestones. There’s just a part of parenthood that isn’t talked about as much, and I’ve yet to see any support groups for it… TEENAGERS. RAISING TEENAGERS IS HARD AF. Give...