If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The prominent display of Father's Day cards was almost empty. Almost. There were four, maybe, five cards left. TOTAL. Not four, maybe five, sentiments. Not four, maybe five, varieties. Not four, maybe five, flavors. Four, maybe five, cards. TOTAL.
Last month a young gunman's bullets tore into a second line parade, New Orleans' signature neighborhood celebration. 19 people, including two 10-year-old children, were hit in the barrage, shot down as they danced through the streets in honor of Mother's Day.
There are many families who just want to be together without the pressure of worrying, "Is this enough?" Holidays of all sorts come with huge expectations and, too often, anxiety and disappointments.
Father's Day is an empty day for a lot of people. We have a nation being raised by single mothers who are stepping up to the plate and filling both roles.
In many ways, our home is where gender stereotypes come to die. I'm a balding stay-at-home father with a Yorkie, so I've been making ego adjustments for many years now.
If we really mean for adoption to be something that helps more than it hurts, we need to consider how both the system and our beliefs about adoption are in need of change.
Blogging for LGBT Families Day sits almost exactly between Mother's Day and Father's Day, honoring both parenting titles but recognizing that not all families fit neatly into those two observances. There's a big spectrum out there.
When she twists her body, I think of a diver going into a flip, transforming her long sleek body into the diameter of a radial tire. She is balled up, resisting my touch. I talk to her in a soft, playful voice, an attempt to lessen the shame and fear that deforms her body.
We must continue to fight every step of the way to ensure immigration reform achieves a roadmap to citizenship for immigrants and an immigration process that respects the civil rights and liberties of immigrants, including women in deportation proceedings.
Civil Society feels out of control and since terrorists are elusive we seem to see people as either friends or enemies, with no grey area at all.
Moms of the World: Look up. There we are, looking back at you, nodding, smiling. You're in the thick of it, or it's just a thick day, and we get it.
I greet each Mother's Day and Father's Day with many wonderful memories of my own parents, who have been gone for some time.
My mom has certainly been the source of constant inspiration. Anyone who has heard me speak has heard stories about her. Although she is highly educated and accomplished, her advice is usually quite simple yet powerful if applied.
Whatever we imagine is going on without us, can go on without us. In fact, all things either continue, or will wait for us. There is never an extra moment with our children.
The Friday before Mother's Day, my work associate asked me for a favor. "I may need to work altered hours on Monday, if that is OK," she started. "I have a memorial service that I need to go to." And then, almost under her breath: "It was a suicide."
Kids are insightful, and if led with love, are fully equipped to handle the life and death cycle. This experience was bigger than our family.
