Families

Breastfeeding brought me back. It kept me in my body, forced me to hold my son’s body, and helped me stay connected to the physical reality of everything. What I remember are flashes of joy in the darkness, his tiny hands clenched in determined fists. His feet curled against my soft stomach. The release of the milk starting to flow. My arms wrapped up around him.

If I truly believed I could simply buy my way to motherhood, though, I’d have maxed out my credit cards long ago. I suspect, however, that many of these products are simply too good to be true; they may work for a small group of women, but they aren’t a pregnancy panacea.

I don’t mean the super rich 1% (if I did, this article would be a much happier one, listing all of the ways I was using my newfound wealth to ensure a Trump presidency never exists). Instead, I am part of the 1% of women whose pregnancies were ectopic or molar.

In today’s world, children may be a financial liability, but that shouldn’t make them a luxury item.

I know what autism looks like, and I understand why people are afraid of it because, at its worst moments, it is desperately, terribly ugly — it is children who can’t communicate, who become adults who are unable to live independently, and who simply cannot cope with the onslaught of sensory input that we barely notice. It is meltdowns that are triggered by nothing and everything, learning difficulties, and services that cost our healthcare system billions of dollars every year.

Target’s lack of gender signage is obviously a sinful, confusing disaster. You should definitely never shop there again. But just in case you ever need to buy a gift for your kid and Wal-Mart is closed, here are some tips for how to navigate the Godless dystopia that is the new unlabeled toy section of Target:

Here’s something nobody talks about when you’re trying to become pregnant: it becomes an obsession and takes over your life. There’s just something so incredibly frustrating about not being able to do this thing that EVERYONE else can do without a problem.

Sometimes the nicest kids turn into whole new people when they come over to your house.