My first year of parenting was terrifically hard. It was not just because I had had a difficult pregnancy (though I had) and a colicky, sleepless dear little baby (though I did), but because I thought that the hard parts were all my fault. The reason I thought it was my fault was that I read too many parenting books. Pregnancy and parenting books are just, by and large, so absurdly vehement. They’re so irresponsibly black-and-white! Mostly, they just make young mothers … [Read more...] about What I am reading: Dixie Dillon Lane
The Hidden Seasons of Grief
In the face of our social silence, human kindness is an irreplaceable balm In 1998, at the age of fourteen, I got into a minor upset at the mall with some of my friends. I don’t remember the specifics—something like someone making a lewd joke, or someone putting someone else down, or somebody talking about shoplifting but not actually doing it. It was all fine in the end, but I do remember thinking, “I probably should not tell Mom about this.” Three years later, in … [Read more...] about The Hidden Seasons of Grief