LeoLin Bowen

I call it the look. The slight tilt of the head confused look that people give me when they find out that I am the “weekend” parent.

My son had just lost another tooth. When he looked up at me with his big, brown eyes and asked, “Mommy is the tooth fairy real?”

I am not the only one who is running on this hamster wheel of debt. In 2017 Americans had a revolving debt of $1,022 billion. So, dear debt, it's over!

Be careful what you wish for because at eight years old my son is exactly like his father in this aspect. I'm now raising an outgoing kid and I'm reserved.

“This is what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real.” My home is a cooperative house on the South Side of Chicago.

What is different now is that I know who I am and what I want. I’m not afraid to be alone and living single. I value my time and my health.

I was a good girl from the start. Now I am speaking up, setting boundaries, saying no to the things I don’t want and yes to the things that I do.

“I just love your squishy belly!” Then, as only children can do, he gave it a nickname: belly jelly. So I'm learning to love my belly jelly.

I didn’t see similarities between my mother and I until years later, after I became a mother. The constant conflict hid how my mother and I are alike.