And yet, I find a way to make it there, with whatever I’ve put aside to spend, to take a few hours to try on the dozens of ...

Birth is portal work, my friend Julia had told me over Vietnamese food months earlier, back when I was pregnant and just starting to draft my birth plan. I thought I knew what she meant — the ...

Martha says she and her husband had been “pretty opposed” to buying anything for the baby early; they plan to move somewhere larger in a few months, so better to wait. But Martha checked ...

As a child of the ’80s, I spent my summer breaks either babysitting or being babysat. Teen sitters held a mythical status for me. I was in awe of the neighbor who walked me to the library ...

Before becoming disabled, I assumed that if I didn’t function well in the world, the problem was with my discipline or perspective. I told myself that I should be able to sit in an airplane seat ...

Twelve years ago when my daughter was born, my parents were there in the hospital room with me to welcome her. My mother cut the cord and my father announced, “It’s a girl!” The three of us ...

For many couples, sex takes a back burner when kids arrive. If we weren’t people who feel connection through sex, maybe we would have just let it go. But we are, and I missed feeling a tether to ...

I learned at an early age that tears were something to apologize for, to be ashamed of, to hide. I learned that my sadness was not as welcomed as my laughter. It wasn’t so much what was said to ...

I was born with nystagmus, a neurological condition that affects my vision, and until I was in my 30s, I’d only met one person that shared it. At a holiday party with my parents when I was ...

I asked my daughter what “good at the internet” means to her, and she explained this boy knows which websites to use and how to phrase a search so the results make sense. The reverence with ...

That fantasy six-figures appears, too, early on in The Power Pause: How to Plan a Career Break After Kids — And Come Back Stronger Than Ever by Neha Ruch, founder of the website (and popular ...

Also known as “false labor,” prodromal labor is a condition during which a woman suffers extremely painful, labor-like contractions but her cervix doesn’t dilate. If you aren’t familiar ...