17: “We still get together and we all talk on chat threads and the laughter is there, but that intense, bump-up-against-each-other, kind of existence was way too short. It SEEMED to last forever, but it didn't. And it will never happen again. And I miss
Release Date: 12/17/2019
44: “The whole family is walking on eggshells.”
Secrets of the Motherworld
“I would like to hear your thoughts on how parents can speak about the elephant in the room.
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43: “My daughter is overweight.”
Secrets of the Motherworld
My 13 year-old daughter is overweight and I don't know how to handle this.
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42: “It's the world that's crazy -- not us parents.”
Secrets of the Motherworld
“Hi Lisa and Stella. This is not so much of a question, but a warm and heartfelt THANK YOU. I think (hope!) that we're slowly getting to the end of some really tough years.
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41: “I don’t trust her decision making.”
Secrets of the Motherworld
A year ago when our ADD student daughter then aged 21 revealed to my husband and myself that she was on a waiting list to have cross sex treatment, our 16-year-old son took the role of her trans ally.
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40: “I know we should love the child we have and not wish them to be different but I can't help having these thoughts.”
Secrets of the Motherworld
“I worry that my boy is not very clever and I am secretly embarrassed and ashamed about this. My family is over-invested in achievement and especially educational achievement and the cousins' fabulous exam results are continuously talked about within our family WhatsApp. It is very distressing to feel ashamed of my boy who is both kind and funny. I'm not sure how I should navigate this - should I just declare that he isn't 'academic' and thereby lead the rest of the family to make insinuations that he is a bit stupid? Although I don't equate intelligence with...
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39: “My work has "juice" for me now while parenting just feels hard and draining.”
Secrets of the Motherworld
“I'm feeling incredibly disconnected from my kids right now.
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38: “My sense of disappointment feels selfish.”
Secrets of the Motherworld
“I'm a single mom and I've always worked full time while raising my kids. My youngest is graduating from high school this year and I've been anticipating the empty next stage of life with mixed emotions. I've known it will be tremendously sad, but at the same time, I'm looking forward to having more time to myself for the first time in over two decades. Now with the coronavirus, it looks possible that he won't be leaving for college in the fall and I am feeling very disappointed about this. I know he is disappointed as well. My sense of disappointment feels selfish. It's...
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37: “Now, with the Coronavirus, she won't have any of the ceremonial endings that seem important to her.”
Secrets of the Motherworld
“My 12 year-old is leaving school this year and now, with the Coronavirus, she won't have any of the ceremonial endings that seem to important to her.
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36: “We never told my parents.”
Secrets of the Motherworld
“I come from a close family. My parents have been involved in all aspects of my children’s lives and are extremely special to them. I have one adult sibling who has special needs and is cared for exclusively by my aging parents. At the time of his birth, it was common for children with special needs to be placed in an institution rather than raised at home."
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35: “Should I ask him if he’s still transgender?”
Secrets of the Motherworld
A year ago, my 16 year old son told us he is transgender. I was completely shocked, as he is not particularly feminine.
info_outline“We still get together and we all talk on chat threads and the laughter is there, but that intense, bump-up-against-each-other, kind of existence was way too short. It SEEMED to last forever, but it didn't. And it will never happen again. And I miss it.”
Here’s the story we discuss this week:
“My children are adults, but as you can see by their ages, I had them all very close together. My oldest was 5 when my fourth child was born.
It was a chaotic, riotous couple of decades. There was yelling, laughing, laundry, crying, school projects, summer vacations, holidays, so-many-questions, and all of it happened in such a condensed period of time. There was so much LIVING.
And then they were gone. All gone. They were out on their own. Their dad died. Everyone lives somewhere else.
We still get together and we all talk on chat threads and the laughter is there, but that intense, bump-up-against-each-other, kind of existence was way too short. It SEEMED to last forever, but it didn't. And it will never happen again. And I miss it.”