Ain’t I a Woman? A Review of I’m Every Woman: Remixed Stories of Marriage,...
Lonnae O'Neal Parker, the mother of three young children, didn't become familiar with the "mommy wars" until she'd written a couple of work and family articles for the Washington Post. In a piece...
View ArticleAn Interview with Lonnae O’Neal Parker
Deesha Philyaw: What was the genesis for I'm Every Woman? Lonnae O'Neal Parker: I wrote a long piece for the Washington Post called "The Donna Reed Syndrome" about deciding to take a year off -- to...
View ArticleAn Interview with Kim McLarin
Deesha Philyaw: Why do you write? Kim McLarin: There are a lot of answers to this question, more than I can really articulate. Probably the simplest, most direct answer is that I write because I have...
View ArticleNavigating Motherhood: A Review of Jump at the Sun by Kim McLarin
Where McLarin had me hooked was with the opening lines of prologue to Jump at the Sun: He was not the first man to slither up behind her in a field of whispered white and throw her down upon a cotton...
View ArticleA Conversation with Lori Tharps
DP: What was the hardest part of writing Kinky Gazpacho? LT: Because it was memoir, it was hard to write about other people in my life, without exposing their private lives. People influence you in...
View ArticleAn Interview with Jessica Warman
Deesha Philyaw: Breathless is a young adult novel, but it definitely held my interest as an adult reader. Was it your intention to press the boundary of these categories? Jessica Warman: Yes and no. I...
View ArticleMy Daughter, My Self
My baby, my first born, has breast buds. She is four months shy of her 8th birthday. I do what I always do when I'm not sure what to do: I turn to books. [Read more...]
View ArticleSunday, Whiny Sunday
I'm starting my whole life over. I am trying to be a patient, sensitive mother, and sometimes, that doesn't go so well. I am tired of hearing complaints! Except mine, of course.[Read more...]
View ArticleA Black Mama’s Interactive Guide to Shopping for Dolls for Christmas: The...
In December, a Black Mama's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of celebrating Christmas. What will have the kids dancing with joy in the living room on Christmas morning and reassure Mama that she is...
View ArticleA Little Help, Please?
"We have had talented babysitters," Taylor said. "Which one was it that made Sponge Bob out of Floam?" Well, there was that. But also among the seven former sitters, there is an aspiring writer, an...
View ArticleSecret, Secret…I’ve Got a Secret
I have a secret life. By day, I am my children's mother. I cuddle with them under blankets and read stories, I insist they wear warm hats and zip up their coats in winter, I tell them "less TV, more...
View ArticleWe are Family
We are whitewater rafting along the Yough River in Pennsylvania--two rafts, four adults, three children, ages 6, 7, and 8. The occupancy of the rafts changes several times over the course of our 9-mile...
View ArticleMusical Beds
The family bed was a given for us. A well-bonded child will eventually transition into her own bed, secure in the knowledge that her needs, including nighttime comfort, will be met. Or so goes the...
View ArticleThe Talk, Part One in a Series
When Peyton asked, I replied, "No, honey. You weren't in my tummy. You were in a different mommy's tummy and after you were born, we brought you home to live with us."--just as I'd rehearsed it in my...
View ArticleNot One Mother, But Many: A Review of The Women Who Raised Me
Actress Victoria Rowell's memoir The Women Who Raised Me, is a tribute to the numerous women who welcomed her into their homes and hearts when, at birth, she became a ward of the state. Rowell's memoir...
View ArticleJust Say No
By the time you read this column, I will have done it...or will be in the process of still doing it: Nothing. That's it. On Sunday, June 3rd, while my children are at their father's for the weekend, I...
View ArticleThe Fix-It Fairy
While I like to think of fun and romance as the yin to the do-it-yourself yang of our relationship, Sam, practical guy that he is, puts a more practical spin on the matter. He says I'm simply getting...
View ArticleStriking a Balance
I'm going home tomorrow to be Mommy once again, chauffeuring kids to summer camp for two weeks, remembering swimsuits on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and packing bag lunches every day. It's a bittersweet...
View ArticleTravel Down Memory Lane … Because I Said So.
To say I watched a lot of TV as a kid is an understatement. Off the top of my head, I can tell you the real names of the two actors who played the building super on Three's Company. I know who Jaime...
View ArticleMonsters, and Rejection, and Disappointment! Oh, My!
Some years back, when Taylor was about three and slowly embracing the idea of sleeping in her own Big Girl bed in her own Big Girl room, we ran into a bit of trouble at bedtime. Monsters, to be...
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