I’d Rather Do Almost Anything Than Go Trolling for Bras

But I Actually Enjoyed Taking My 12-Year-Old Daughter and Her Friends to the Mall

When my daughter was 12, she asked if I would take her and two friends shopping at the mall for “friendship bras.”

Was this a brand I hadn’t heard of?

“It’s when you go with your friends and you all buy a bra!” Kate explained.

“Sure, sounds fun,” I said, feeling exhausted already.

This was nearly a decade ago, but it’s a moment I continue to remember as I see friends grappling with their own daughters’ transition from childhood to adolescence.

It’s also a female rite of passage in my own …

By Mona Gable | July 27, 2015

The Tenacious Woman Who Helped Deliver Mother’s Day to the U.S.

For Anna Jarvis, a Holiday Devoted to Moms Was Not Sentimental Fluff, But a Practical Exercise in Patriotism

by Katharine Lane Antolini | May 8, 2015

One hundred years ago last May, President Woodrow Wilson signed the first congressional resolution and presidential proclamation calling upon all citizens to display the national flag in honor of American …

Why the American Family Needs Same-Sex Parents

Data Shows That the Country’s Most Vulnerable Kids Will Benefit If the Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Gay Marriage

by Gary J. Gates | April 21, 2015

On April 28th, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in an omnibus case about whether same-sex couples are allowed to marry in all 50 states in this country. …

Don’t Freak Out if You’re Not Lusting After a Baby

You Don’t Have to Be Selfish, Shallow, or Self-Absorbed to Decide Not to Become a Parent

by Sarah Rothbard | April 16, 2015

Why do some adult men and women choose not to have kids? Los Angeles Times columnist Meghan Daum had only seen the topic addressed in a “really glib, flippant way.” …

Why Can’t We Accept That Some Women Don’t Want Kids?

There Is No ‘Normal’ American Family Anymore. But Heads Still Shake When It Comes to Women’s Reproductive Choices.

April 13, 2015

It used to be that the Cleavers—dad working an office job, mom raising two boys full-time—were the model American family. But the past several decades have seen dramatic changes—recent studies …

My Mother Couldn’t Choose Whether to Vaccinate Me for Polio

Dr. Salk’s Great Breakthrough Came 224 Days After I Fell Ill. So All We Could Do Was Head for the Isolation Ward.

by Mark Paul | February 23, 2015

It had been a good year for Lois Mace.

She and her husband, only three years beyond college, had bought their first house. A solid redbrick and clapboard Cape Cod, it …

parenting

I’d Rather Do Almost Anything Than Go Trolling for Bras

But I Actually Enjoyed Taking My 12-Year-Old Daughter and Her Friends to the Mall

The Tenacious Woman Who Helped Deliver Mother’s Day to the U.S.

For Anna Jarvis, a Holiday Devoted to Moms Was Not Sentimental Fluff, But a Practical Exercise in Patriotism

Why the American Family Needs Same-Sex Parents

Data Shows That the Country’s Most Vulnerable Kids Will Benefit If the Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Gay Marriage

Don’t Freak Out if You’re Not Lusting After a Baby

You Don’t Have to Be Selfish, Shallow, or Self-Absorbed to Decide Not to Become a Parent

Why Can’t We Accept That Some Women Don’t Want Kids?

There Is No ‘Normal’ American Family Anymore. But Heads Still Shake When It Comes to Women’s Reproductive Choices.

My Mother Couldn’t Choose Whether to Vaccinate Me for Polio

Dr. Salk’s Great Breakthrough Came 224 Days After I Fell Ill. So All We Could Do Was Head for the Isolation Ward.

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Mortified—and Forever Cheered On—by Mom

She was Facebook Before it Existed, Stiff-Upper-Lipped, and My Biggest Supporter

Second-Generation Girl Scout

The Brownies Helped Make Me an American. Now I’m Making a New Troop for My Daughter.

Making Mom a Movie Star

Creating a Documentary About My Mother’s Work in the Fields Helped Me See Her in a New Light

The Deep Embrace of Rialto, California

I Held My Dying Father in My Arms. Then I Let Myself Fall Into the Arms of My Hometown.

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