Joni Edelman

1. All vaginas are good vaginas.

A weekly trip to Walmart would end in tears — first theirs, then mine. Them pining in the toy aisle. Me saying no. Over and over. It wasn’t so much that I wanted to buy my kids whatever they wanted, it was that I couldn’t.

“I don’t even know what to say, Joni. Your baby isn’t alive.”

All boobs are good boobs. And all areola too!

Good god, where will I ever find someone who will love me in such a pitiful condition?

"Food isn't the enemy –– calling it the enemy is the enemy."

91% of women report dissatisfaction with their body. Ninety-one. I know you know math—that’s 9/10 of women.

I didn't get a lot of mothering as a child, but when I did, it was from her. She taught me how to sew, how to crochet. She taught me how to stand up for myself, to be tough. She taught me how to make fried chicken and fried okra, which I will never make, because it's fucking gross.

I want my kids to have an understanding of the truth of sex, the ins, the outs, the details no one wants to ask anyone—least of all their mom.

Now that I've embarked upon the decade I once considered "old," there are a few things I'd like my 20 (and 30) year-old self to know.