How I Use Mealtime for Discipline, Conversation and Education
There are a lot of things I’m not great at in life, but I excel at dinner time. While serving chicken nuggets in front of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse might make some aspects of my day easier, I refuse. Family dinner is too important. My children’s health, education, and well being mean too much to me…
➠ Continue Reading16 Toys That Encourage Engineering Skills in Kids
I’m grooming my daughter to become an engineer. No, I’m not going to tell her what career or fields of study to pursue. But, I want to train her brain to tinker away at the world as she manouvers her way through it. When I wrote about encouraging her S.T.E.M. education during infancy, I shared a…
➠ Continue ReadingWhy I Reclaimed My Relationship with the Outdoors as a Black Woman and Went Camping
I had always been curious about camping. Something about a tent, a fire, and marshmallows sounded like a lot of fun, but when I brought it up, no one in my family wanted to sleep on the ground outside when we had perfectly good beds inside. With a child’s eye, I began to notice that…
➠ Continue ReadingHow to Practice Mindful Eating in the Midst of Stressful Living
The first time I came across the idea of ‘mindful eating’, the article had something to do with using chopsticks to eat. But, since I am living in Japan and already using chopsticks daily, I flipped the page and moved on to something I felt was more relevant. At that time, I never imagined that…
➠ Continue ReadingMy Greatest Struggle as a New Mother is Resenting the Loss of My Freedom
There comes a time in every mother’s life when she feels like she’s the sh*t. Maybe it’s the first time you lay the baby down for a nap and triumphantly tip toe from the room. Or perhaps it’s preparing more than one kid for travel and arriving on time. These moments come and go. But…
➠ Continue Reading30 Children’s Books That Affirm and Empower Black Girls
As black mothers we know that the world can be unkind to little black girls. That’s why it’s important for us to affirm them at home so they can shine out in the world. Here are 30 books that affirm and empower black girls. True Stories 1. Singing For Dr. King A sweet story about…
➠ Continue ReadingWhy Satisfying Sex Should Be Part of a Mother’s Self-Care
“Sex? Don’t look at me! I’ve got more important things on my mind.” Sound like you? Most of us became mommies because we got hot, sweaty and (hopefully) satisfied. Yet, once those beautiful babies are born, a lot of mommies put sex on the back burner. Some mamas just take it right off the stove,…
➠ Continue ReadingNew Studies Show the “Crack Baby” Was a Media Myth Designed to Frighten Whites and Criminalize Black Children
When you hear the term “crack baby, ” you might picture the movie Losing Isaiah with the screaming baby suffering due to his mother’s drug habit. He was the classic crack baby: disruptive, troubled, and fictional. Crack babies aren’t a real thing Yes, some children were exposed in utero to cocaine, but there is no…
➠ Continue ReadingDear Dads: Your Daughter Will Grow Up to Have Sex. Deal With It.
When I was young, my dad had a running joke that he would not let me get married until I was 30, 60, or 90. He never said that to my brother. I always laughed it off because I knew he wasn’t serious. I married before age 30, after all. But my husband asked something…
➠ Continue ReadingWe Shouldn’t Need to Point Fingers at Other Mothers to Validate Our Parenting Decisions
I was recently reading a mother’s reflection about her choice to leave the workplace to focus on raising her children. Although I am a working mother I nodded along, resonating with her words. Juggling my work, marriage and children has pushed my boundaries. I have come to the conclusion that I cannot have any more…
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