humanity
Humanity begins at home.
Things Just Aren't the Same Anymore - or Are They?
When I was a kid, even though it was the 60's and 70's (1960's and 70's, that is), we thought our parents were 'dumb.' Just like kids do now. It's just a kid thing, I suppose. We thought our parents had no idea what it was like to be a third grader, or a high school girl wanting our hair a certain way, or what is was like to date and fall in love. Really silly when you stop and realize they were married—to each other, usually—and had had babies, like us.
By Lisa LaRue-Baker7 years ago in Families
“Get Em’ Up Scout”
A sense of peace struck a chord deep within me as if I were a baby being held safely against my mother's breast. The summers of my childhood came flooding back as I stood recapturing my father's image across from me, casting his fly rod with the rhythm of the river. The wildflowers, Indian paintbrush, Queen Anne’s lace, graced the steep grade of the dam, just as I had remembered. I envisioned myself sliding down the embankment to fish and play among the rocks, and catching water bugs until hunger settled in, and I made my way back down the path toward my family’s campsite. Birch trees bent overhead as though protecting me. The sweet sound of water, lapping against the rocks, lulled me. I hadn’t been back since my parents' divorce, 30 years ago. I stood there, letting the memories envelope me. The many times we rode the dry-kai, large, long pieces of old wood lying on the side of the lake (I told my children these were the original “noodles”). My brothers and I spent hours riding them. I often have pretended mine were seahorses as I bobbed up and down in the chilly Maine waters.
By Laurie’s Front Porch Stories7 years ago in Families
Summer Break
From the Saturday before Memorial Day until the first day of August, I get a taste of what it is like to be a stay-at-home mom. My day job—middle school teaching—is on summer break. Many people think teaching is an easy job and we shouldn’t complain about our job because of the time off, but it’s that time off when we have to catch up other parts of our lives we couldn’t invest as much in during the school year—momming and wife-ing!
By Wendy Etter7 years ago in Families
The Subjectivity of Family
Many people define “family” as blood, and that being so, many people feel ethically trapped within the concept of choosing family over everything. As a rational-thinking human being, I'd like to disagree with this entirely on the premise that “family” means nothing more than blood. A metaphor to best reword this would be to compare family to a mass of cancer cells in your body; they are still a part of your body, despite their usually detrimental and even lethal qualities. Cancer cells to your body are as family is to your wellbeing; just because something is connected to you, doesn’t mean it’s necessarily healthy or even necessary to keep around you.
By Matt Rivera7 years ago in Families
Heart of Gold
Mothers make the world go round with their love, passion, patience, and dedication. The world wouldn’t be same without them. They deserve to be celebrated everyday because they sacrifice and give so much more than what they are credited for. Bringing a child into the universe is never a walk in the park, but they all gracefully embrace the process—some not just once, but several times. What I admire most about them is that they see the beauty of bringing forth new life—despite the challenges they may have to face in the whole process mode, instead they count it all worthy. All mothers, we appreciate you and we love you, no words can ever describe your worth in what you do. For every single mother who’s having to go through it alone, we applaud you. We all know bringing a child into the world is only the beginning. Raising a child is a form of courage, gently leading them down the right path takes implacable strength. Especially when their father doesn’t want to know or isn't involved in their children’s lives. All of these processes that mothers go through require great strength of purpose, grace, patience, consistency, perseverance, and wisdom. For all men who are aware of their responsibilities, who have still decided not to get involved, I hope one day there will be a change of heart before it’s too late. A child naturally runs to his/her mother for comfort and to their father for protection; we have to understand why that structure is there. The dynamics are there to help all reach their full potential—not to say there will be no functionality without the other, but there is always the best person to pour the oil for something to set into motion. Women with all their strength and capabilities are limited because they are not meant to do it all by themselves.
By Fen Tapiwa7 years ago in Families
Finally, People Are Starting to Talk About Depression in Stay-At-Home Mothers
Stay-at-home motherhood is arguably a full-time job in its own right. With the number of women in the workforce increasing at a consistent rate, it's no longer a shock that the correlating number of women staying at home to commit entirely to motherhood has decreased.
By Reigning Women7 years ago in Families
A Letter to Someone
I was never going to write this for the public. This is the main reason I will not put your name, but I have a feeling that if you are reading this then you know who you are. A few days ago I was heated that you found out what I did and, you being you, decided to make it clear that you could spy on me whenever you like. I wanted to write a hate speech about you, have the world see how despicable you really are. Yet, I realized that this would make me just like you, and I'll never let that happen.
By Ashlyn Harper7 years ago in Families
