AzmanL/Getty Images I thought my best friend and I would grow old together. I know that probably sounds corny, but it’s the truth. I pictured us as gray-haired women getting together for yearly vacations on the coast, laughing about all that had transpired over the many, many years. But this won’t happen. We will grow old apart. Because after more than three decades of friendship, I severed ties with the person I thought would be my ride or die. I met her when I was a scared 17-year-old, living alone in a city I barely knew, reeling from a traumatic...
What Is Tacky Christmas & Why Is TikTok Doing This To Us?
Jena Ardell/Moment/Getty Images In recent months, I have joined the swell of people swearing off Twitter in the name of better mental health. After years and years, the doomscrolling finally got to me… but I wasn’t going to do anything crazy like do something productive with this newfound time, so I’ve been hopping on TikTok a lot more lately. And in my scrolling there (not doomscrolling; just regular-type scrolling), I kept hearing about “Tacky Christmas” and wondering “What is Tacky Christmas?” Well… I found out and I hate it. Correction. I don’t hate Tacky Christmas. I hate the designation. Because...
13 Fun, Easy-To-Use Gifts For Kids With Disabilities
The holidays are practically here, and parents are gearing up to shop! While gift-giving can be a fun and exciting time, finding the right item for each person on your list can also be a source of stress — something I struggle with each year as a parent of a child with disabilities. My son has cerebral palsy, among other challenges, and over the years, I’ve had a really hard time finding gifts for him. I want to get him things he can use and enjoy, but many mainstream items just aren’t a good fit. He has difficulty grasping with his...
Is the Roommate Phase Just a Normal Part of Parenthood? A Therapist Weighs In
Alavinphoto/Getty Images A few weeks into parenthood, I was hit with a disturbing thought: I realized that I couldn’t remember the last time my husband and I had had a conversation that wasn’t about the baby or housework. Despite being in the same space and going through this incredibly intimate process of new parenthood, it was starting to feel like we were living more as roommates than partners. It’s a terrifying concept when you’ve just made a major life decision with someone. A quick Google search later, I realized that this concept was hardly unique to our situation. The so-called...