The first time I bought a pregnancy test I was 17. I’d gotten my period but was so new at the whole sex thing, not to mention paranoid, that I wanted to be sure. We hadn’t used condoms, but instead a small, see-through film that hardly seemed like it was going to do its job. […]
Almost exactly year ago, TIME magazine ran a cover story called “The Childfree Life” about the rising number of Americans who were opting not to have kids. One of those couples was Paul and Leah Clouse, who both felt that they couldn’t balance their creative interests (a bakery for her, a blog for him) and also be good parents. “If […]
I’m gonna be honest. I’m turning 30 this year and my biological clock is a-tickin’. I want kids in the next 3-5 years, partially because I don’t want to fork over any dough for fertility treatments. That’s why—along with marathon sessions of “The Millionaire Matchmaker”—I’m rapidly losing patience with men my age or older who […]
I never want to be a primary parent; I very much want to nurture and raise children as part of a committed family unit. It’s alright if you need a minute. Go ahead and reread it. Five years ago, as I was unwittingly being ushered along the hetero/mononormative conveyor belt of life, those would have […]
Guilt and motherhood seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. With all the demands on our time and energy, mothers are constantly worrying: Are we spending enough time with our kids? Or are we spending too much time with our kids, running the risk of becoming a helicopter parent? What I’ve found in […]
Every relationship has its milestones: first kiss, first fuck, finally saying “I love you,” moving in together, meeting the parents, going on vacation, etc. But every major breakup has its milestones too, often full of either sadness or relief. Moving out of the place you once shared; unfollowing/unfriending on social media; realizing that his birthday passed and for once, you didn’t think about […]
They say that your life completely changes when you have a baby. That this overwhelming sense of love makes you forget all of the sleepless nights and dirty diapers, the temper tantrums and crayon marks on the freshly-painted walls. Many new mothers declare that this is what they were meant to do: bring another life […]
Regrets. I’ve had a few. But my child hasn’t been one of them. But if he was, how eager would I be to sharing that openly? Over at Yahoo! Parenting, Brooke Lark gets brave and admits that her life might have been better if she never had her kids. Lark laments not being the “pretty, […]
Kids! Your sister has one. That woman on the subway with the very big stroller blocking your way out of the train has one. So does that dude at the coffeeshop who looks like he’d definitely nurse that child strapped to his front if only given the chance. Everyone has a kid! Everyone, except you. […]
