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Baby Blues: As A Former Psych Ward Patient, I Don’t Condone Committing Women With Unwanted Pregnancies

Baby Blues: As A Former Psych Ward Patient, I Don't Condone Committing Women With Unwanted Pregnancies

Yesterday, Koa Beck wrote about the proposed change in Irish abortion laws that could deny abortions to suicidal women, requiring them to “wait out” their pregnancies in the psych ward. As a woman who has both been admitted to a psychiatric ward and been pregnant (not at the same time, though), the horror of this nearly renders me speechless. More »

I’m Afraid Not ‘Keeping Up With The Joneses’ Does A Disservice To My Daughter

Iâm Afraid Not âKeeping Up With The Joneses' Does A Disservice To My Daughter

I never lived in an apartment when I was a child, and even though my parents struggled a little in the beginning, the childhood I actually remember was an upper middle-class one. By the time I graduated high school, we lived in a suburb of Chicago in a house valued at a million dollars. My childhood included a sister, and a pet, and vacations, and parents who could just run out and buy something when they needed or wanted it.

We have none of these things, and the kinds of careers we’ve chosen indicate that we may never have these things. This scares me, I said to Shaun. I don’t know if this is okay for our daughter. More »

Baby Blues: Sometimes It’s Harder To Cope With The Manic Highs Of Motherhood Than The Lows

Baby Blues: Sometimes Itâs Harder To Cope With The Manic Highs Of Motherhood Than The Lows

There’s this misconception about depressed people that we’re depressed all the time. I imagine some of you might think this of me given that I write a weekly column about PPD. But I’m not some kind of depressed murky swamp creature in real life. Around people I like, I’m actually more like an overzealous but loving Yorkie pup, minus the ankle biting!

Like everyone else, I experience moments, even days, of elation – when things just seem to fall into place. The way PPD coincides with these high moments, however, changes the effect on me. The truth is, sometimes it’s even harder to cope with my highs than my lows.
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I Was A Super Judgey Parent-To-Be Sanctimommy

I Was A Super Judgey Parent-To-Be Sanctimommy

When I was pregnant and elbow-deep in parenting books, I was quick to formulate opinions and horribly stubborn about maintaining them. I can’t explain this phenomenon, but it really seems like those with the strongest opinions on parenting are childless folk or parents-to-be. Combine this phenomenon with my tendency to read way too many books and my appreciation of a good debate and you can imagine the kind of insufferable prick I was during those nine months. More »

Baby Blues: I Tried To Make Good Changes For My PPD & All I Got Was This Lousy Emotional Breakdown

Baby Blues: I Tried To Make Good Changes For My PPD & All I Got Was This Lousy Emotional Breakdown

Days later, serious shit went down between me and my husband. We determined we could no longer afford the beautiful house we’d been planning to build this summer. After an especially heated argument, I went so far as to look up the number for the Missouri suicide hotline because, goddammit, I didn’t know what I could be doing differently. More »

If Your Kid Wants A Barbie Birthday, Their Only Options Are White, Blonde Hair, And Blue Eyes

If Your Kid Wants A Barbie Birthday, Their Only Options Are White, Blonde Hair, And Blue Eyes

Karen Green Braithwaite of New York, NY is petitioning Mattel to offer party supplies featuring Barbies of color. Apparently, if a little girl wants to throw a Barbie-themed birthday party, she’d better be cool with her banners, tablecloths, plates, cups and napkins featuring blonde-haired, blue-eyed Barbie. Because that’s all they have. More »

I Don’t Assume That My Toddler Is Going To Turn Out Straight

I Don't Assume That My Toddler Is Going To Turn Out Straight

I hate to admit it but it’s true that even those of us who are supportive of the LGBTQ community still just sort of assume our kids are going to be heterosexual. Even I’ve played along with the standard commentary even though I don’t personally assume that my toddler will turn out straight. Like when my daughter has a playdate with a little boy– “is this an arranged marriage?” “Aww, look, they’re flirting!” I even snickered when my grandpa pointed to my newborn daughter’s left ring finger and said someday, some guy was going to put a ring on it. More »

Baby Blues: I’m Never Going To Seek Treatment For My PPD

Baby Blues: I'm Never Going To Seek Treatment For My PPD

I have to be honest. I’m probably never going to seek treatment for my depression. It’s not just because health insurance would cost more than our rent, or because I have no idea when I would squeeze therapy into my already jam-packed schedule. In truth, it’s because I don’t think I fit the bill for a severely depressed person anymore. Sure, my passive aggressive, semi-suicidal teen self was in serious need of therapy and meds. But my adult self? I don’t know. More »