Medium, I’m not leaving you yet. But I‘m cheating on you, just so you know. — Much like “wash curtains” and “organize digital photos,” I’ve had a lingering item on my to-do list to “get on Substack.” I even took a precious PTO day back in October to get all set up on the platform. I changed the name of the publication about five times. Then…

White fragility and interracial coupling do not go hand in hand — On our third date, the man who would become my husband told me, “You get it.” The “it” he was referring to was racism. At the time, I was flattered to have a Black person acknowledge my wokeness. …

Without an honest reckoning when it comes to gender inequity and unpaid labor, therapy can only go so far — I’ve got all the tools. I’ve got intentional dialogues and “I statements” and shared pools of meaning. I respect the tools. I often forget the tools when I need them most, but they help sometimes. I’m not ashamed to tell you that my partner and I see a marriage counselor…

Over the course of 773,770 steps, I learned to walk with, not away from, my problems — At first, I tried to outwalk my anger. Maybe if I walked fast enough, I could leave it behind. Maybe if I walked fast enough to somewhere beautiful, I could leave it behind and bury it for good and return home a better, calmer, more merciful version of myself. What…

Protecting our children from the toxic forces that surround us is like swimming upstream — I’m another exhausted parent, and no one wants to hear it. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it’s tiring to raise children, we get it, enough already. But actually, people don’t really get it. I know this because it only clicked for me very recently, and I’ve parented three children, starting with my…

Follow these five simple guidelines if you want a shot at second-best — I’m not sure if you know this about me, but I’m the World’s Best Mom. It says so right on my coffee mug. Some people wonder how I earned this prestigious designation. …

And for the community that came with them — My father and I were always the early risers. On Saturday morning at 7 a.m., I was usually sitting on a kitchen stool eating a bowl of Shredded Wheat. My father was a few feet away from me, sitting “lotus-style” on the window seat. …

They are strong, healthy, and entirely gapless — Three dates in, the man who would become my husband told me that he loved my “thick thighs.” I was 24 years old at the time and luckily, by that point, finally secure with my robust femoral region. I thanked him, but I also warned him that should he find…

Such a claim calls for a healthy dose of skepticism and a few key follow-up questions. — When my daughter officially entered toddlerhood, I found myself making frequent comparisons between her behavior and that of my company’s CEO. Both were highly unpredictable and stubbornly unresponsive to reasonable requests. …