Last night's election was historic in so many ways, with representation that's starting to better reflect the actual composition of the country. We now have the first Black woman in Congress from Massachusetts: Ayanna Pressley. The first…
It’s been over a week since I saw the brand new movie Boy Erased and I can’t get it out of my head. As an avid human-rights supporter and the mom of two activist teenagers, I spend a lot of time trying to be less angry these days than I …
Parents. We're not like other people who can just drop everything and fly out to a swing state to canvas, or host raucous fundraising cocktail nights, or even attend a GOTV concert on a whim. But there's a lot we can do -- with our famil…
Kristen and I are both old school bloggers, going back to 2006 when our kids were tiny. Back then, we were a small, passionate community of writers who shared our lives, our joys, our many challenges and even some painful losses. Many of…
I've been watching an amazing story unfold on my Facebook feed over the last month. And because we love a good heartwarming story, we knew we had to share this story of Michael Strahan's act of kindness with you all too. It started a mon…
What a week. That's all you have to say right now to nearly any woman in your life, and she will know exactly what you're talking about. Dr. Christine Blasey Ford's credible, difficult testimony in the Kavanaugh hearing (i.e. not a trial…
Oh hey! In today's New Thing To Be Rightfully Outraged Over we're going to go with Halloween costumes that glorify sexual assault. Yeah, you read that right. Thanks to Mark Graham on Twitter, I was alerted to a GYN costume -- which is co…
There is so confusion about the difference between Latino and Hispanic, whether you can use the terms interchangeable, and whether they're two different things. So with this week kicking off Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15-October …
When my oldest daughter was 17 months old, lying half-nekkid on the diaper change pad, she grabbed her genitals and said, BUTT! “No, honey,” I corrected. “That’s your...vagina.” Cough. Gulp. Eep. Deep breath in… Exhale. Phew. Why was it …
Today is the 55th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King's historic March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom , which mean it's also the anniversary of his incomparable I Have A Dream speech. We can't think of a better way to honor the day…
I know I'm making the understatement of the year when I say that there's been a lot of difficult news lately. Which is maybe why this viral photo of on-duty police officer Celeste Ayala breastfeeding a starving child at a hospital had me…
Last night, I finally saw Eighth Grade , hoping to screen the movie before seeing it a second time with my 11 and 13-year-old daughters. Tonight, thousands of you have the opportunity to see Eighth Grade totally free, at unrated screenin…
We talk a lot about how to create more kindness and empathy in our kids, when it comes to all sorts of people they encounter in their lives. But top of mind right now for so many of us, are immigrants. I feel so grateful that my kids are…
With the tragic, high-profile suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain in the news this week, surely a lot of our kids are going to be asking questions about suicide . To top it off, they may have heard last month's announcement about…
Last night, I attended the Friday night sabbath services before my niece's Bat Mitzvah. As the Rabbi asked us to quietly send a prayer or good wishes to anyone hurting or in pain right now, all I could think of was the incredibly difficu…
As I wrote on Facebook , there was something so restorative this morning, watching the Royal Wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle -- now the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. It was all about love, inclusion, diversity , a brilliant …
On Saturday night, I saw messages from friends, including our own editors and contributors, pop up on my computer. They all were versions of, "Whoa. WATCH THIS," with a link to the new Childish Gambino video, "This is America." After wat…
Should I see Avengers: Infinity War with kids? Is it okay for middle-schoolers? Will my third-grader freak out? Is there a ton of violence? Am I the best mommy in the world because I refuse to allow my children to be exposed to unnecessa…
Fellow word nerds , gather round, as we take a moment for one of our top pastimes, checking out the new words added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary this month. (Other favorite pastimes, by the way, include doing the Sunday Times Crossw…
Adapted from an article originally published on Mom-101.com Each year, our annual Brooklyn Fresh Air Fund trip to visit friends in suburban Massachusetts leads to our semi-annual fast food drive-thru lunch. (Oh, come and get me Sanctimom…
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door! - Emma Lazarus After yesterday's racist, hateful, and decidedly non-presidential presidential "shithole" characterization of immigrants to America fro…
If by now you haven't heard about The Greatest Showman , well where have you been? Wrapping gifts or something? Geez. This has been one of the biggest PR blitzes I've seen in a long time. And that was before its three Golden Globe nomina…
Given the work I do daily with so many amazingly strong, tuned-in, competent juggling moms, a little bit of smoke comes out of my ears every time I read lines like, it’s so important to set aside "me time" every single day to be an even …
“You have to learn to tell the server what you want,” I insisted. She winced. “Go on…” No dice. For some reason, my outspoken, truth-telling, totally-not-shy ten year old is having issues asking for a waffle at the neighborhood diner. Th…