family

Do you have a safe word for family holidays? A word that means, “Meet me in the bathroom with pie, cuz sh*t just got real?” You’re not alone.

I have my own army who fights against injustice. I have a mother who handed out fliers boycotting grapes during Cesar Chavez’s unionizing efforts. I have an aunt and uncle who told me never to question the importance of affirmative action.

She’s made all the mistakes, so you don’t have to… Ask Erin is a weekly advice column, in which Erin answers your burning questions about anything at all.

I had become utterly obsessed with the idea that the gene could ignite at any moment within my own body. As if the gene had preconceived notions or could sense a budding anti-establishment humor in me; as if I had already been fitted for the gene and the title to match, heavy indeed and without much say in the matter.

It can really take a toll on you when you have to parent a parent.

Kids just aren't born with this pre-conceived bullshit about people and families and sex and gender.

You don't have to feel lost without your children, or miss them to the point of paralysis to be a good, even a great, mother.

Science, as it turns out, is not the answer to everything — certainly not breastfeeding.