Latest Posts

  • The Things You Learn

    Dear EldestChild, You learn things so quickly and imitate us so well, and I’m sorry to say that you pick up on not only the best of our behavior but also on the worst. We need to be more careful… Continue reading

  • Nobody’s Property

    “What becomes quickly clear is that the cult of “natural” motherhood is just the latest manifestation in a long history of reducing women’s bodies and lives to status objects to mark class privilege.” — Amanda Marcotte Dear Amanda, Your article… Continue reading

  • The Day the Toddler Slapped the Baby

    Dear Kids, You’re most definitely going to grow up remembering the phrase “Your job is to be best friends.” I say it no fewer than twenty times on a bad day. And then on the good days I don’t say… Continue reading

  • Six Months and Struggling

    Dear Daughter, This is where I fall flat. You are almost six months old and I am struggling. To this point my letters have mostly been encouraging and upbeat.I am writing to you now from an unhappy place, not to… Continue reading

  • The Number of Times We Nurse

    Dear Daughter, Ramping up to your six month growth spurt, I don’t remember how many times we’ve nursed today. I don’t count. I have not counted in a long time, since sometime after your oldest brother was born. (Excluding the… Continue reading

  • I Refuse to Spoil You, Daughter.

    Dear Daughter, Five months and ten days from when you were born, you are perfect and unspoiled and everything that a baby should be. I do not wish to destroy that. When you were born you were perfect. You knew… Continue reading

  • Sleep and Wake Again

    Dear Daughter, Mellow, sweet daughter of mine who hardly ever cries, you are the calmest of all our children. From everything I have heard, you should be easy to train to sleep as you are not quick to cry and… Continue reading

  • Comic: “I Don’t Know What I Was Expecting…”

    A new comic is up on the “Comics” page. “I Don’t Know What I Was Expecting”. Continue reading

  • My Message to Nicola Kraus

    Dear Ms. Kraus, It would seem from your “detachment parenting” rant that you know little about what attachment parenting involves, and that you are surrounded by people who are similarly confused by the topic. I feel inclined to address some… Continue reading

  • My Parenting Oppresses Me

    Dear Daughter, My parenting methods apparently oppress me and render me a servant much to the undoing of all the decades of feminism. You see, I cannot possibly choose to breastfeed you, to hold you, to use cloth diapers instead… Continue reading