Fool With No Mama
When I was in high school, our principal used to come on the PA every morning to make the following announcement: “Make sure you’re on time to class. Don’t be a fool with no mama who gets caught in the...
View ArticleBack From Vacation & Stuck with the Kids
So a few weeks ago, I swanned off to Los Angeles to be surrounded on all sides by friends and family, and engulfed in English and cultural familiarity. And Vanilla Lattes from Coffee Bean. And...
View ArticleMy Daughter Keeps Kosher, But I Love Pork
My name is Rachel, and I'm a treyfaholic. I like bacon, and shrimp, and lobster rolls.
View ArticleMy Jewish Guilt from Hurricane Sandy
Last Thursday, I took a shower that easily ranks among the top five best showers of my entire life. Maybe even the top three. The water was hot. And there was plenty of it. Contrary to my habit of...
View ArticleI’m Not Going to Make My Kids Weight Crazy
Last week my mother came to visit us for the first time in almost a year. Because my kids know my father and his wife (who I lovingly refer to as my second mom) so well, I was very excited … Continue...
View ArticleBreastfeeding With an Extra Dose of Jewish Guilt
“Your daughter is not gaining weight,” the pediatrician explained to me at my daughter’s two week checkup. That pediatrician’s appointment still haunts me. It took me from a place where I thought my...
View ArticleComing to Terms With My Son’s Allergies
When my son was 10 months old, we started giving him some of the foods that you normally test with a baby. Many of them went well; egg did not. He threw up and broke out into hives. In subsequent …...
View ArticleI Had to Stop Breast Feeding and I’m Relieved
After having a few crazy run-ins with vertigo (not the preferable kind, the one performed by Bono and The Edge), I went to the doctor. I was pleased to discover that I wasn’t having mini-strokes, but...
View ArticleThe Pains of Parenting with Arthritis
Two weeks after my second son was born, I woke up one morning with swollen wrists that were too stiff and painful to hold my baby. Using my forearms, I handed our son to my husband and whispered, “It’s...
View ArticleYou Can’t Shame a Woman into Breastfeeding
“I want to be a part of the sisterhood of women who use their breasts to give life. I want to redeem myself. I want to try again. I want to know that I am not broken.” Kim Simon’s story … Continue...
View ArticleJewish Mother’s Day, With a Side Order of Guilt
Don’t go on Facebook on Mother’s Day. “Look at the breakfast my kids cooked for me,” one of my friends posted, proudly displaying a picture of some beautifully plated granola, coffee, and bud vase of...
View ArticleI Threw My Baby Down the Stairs
Okay, before you call child protective services, let me explain… Three months ago, my husband and I were playing with our 4 ½ month old when it became quite apparent that it was time to sing “Poop...
View ArticleI Left My Kids for the First Time Ever & Didn’t Feel Guilty
What happens when a neurotic and overprotective 27-year-old mom of two leaves her kids–for the first time ever–for a weekend with the girls? Well, now that I asked, I actually had a lot of fun, thank...
View ArticleI’m Glad to Be Done with Breastfeeding
We’re not supposed to say that we’re glad to be done with breastfeeding. But I’ll admit it: My name is Jordana and I’m kind of, sort of, glad to be done. Without question, breastfeeding is terrific...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Job as a Parent is Not to Model Being Perfect
The 20th-century philosopher Fred Rogers said, “My hunch is that if we allow ourselves to give who we really are to the children in our care, we will in some way inspire cartwheels in their hearts.”...
View ArticleClik here to view.
My Sister-in-Law Died From Breast Cancer And Her Words of Advice Still Haunt Me
In a conversation I had with my sister-in-law shortly after she was diagnosed with breast cancer, she solemnly told me to “just enjoy my children.” She only lived for nine months after her diagnosis,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Am I Missing the Mommy Gene?
They say a mother can always recognize her baby’s cry. Well, that didn’t happen for me. When my son was an infant, there were plenty of times when I’d walk into our day care center at pickup time to...
View Article
