“Who Are You?” asks members of Culture on the Edge to reflect on one of their own many identities (whether national, gendered, racial, familial, etc.), theorizing at the same time the self-identification that they each chose to discuss.
Being a mother was never part of my general life plan. In fact, where babies are concerned, I’m the unsophisticated rube who tends to think all infants look, sound, and smell the same. So, when my partner and I learned we were going to be parents in just forty short weeks (that’s another thing—even now, the week count might as well be military time, as far as I’m concerned), we traded blank stares regarding what that means or how to go about thinking toward how our lives would change once the squirmy, cartilage-laden fellow joined us. Continue reading “Who Are You? I’m a New Mom”
When my oldest child was still a toddler (and in that phase where she was old enough to say “no,” but still young enough to be completely irrational), I called my wise mother one night having a tantrum of my own. I wanted her to tell me how to reason with my daughter – what to tell my precious offspring that would make her eat her breakfast, separate from a beloved toy, or submit to a nap. In short, I was asking for the holy grail of toddler parenting.