Jody Allard

Jody Allard

Bio

Jody Allard is a former techie turned freelance writer living in Seattle. Her online work has appeared on Time, xoJane, and Offbeat Home, among others. She writes primarily about food, family, mothering, and life with a chronic illness. 

Jody Allard Articles

Student Ahmed Mohamed Detained For Bringing Homemade Clock To School

Now, you might be wondering how on Earth a teacher thought that a simple circuit board attached to a clock display was a bomb. And that would be a reasonable thing to wonder –– until you learn that the student detained was Ahmed Mohamed, a Muslim whose father immigrated from Sudan.

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Image: Wikipedia

The Problem With Giving Your Kids Experiences Instead Of Gifts

Advertisers don't encourage us to believe that our kids need to make memories more than another toy to wage war on capitalism; they do it because these experience gifts support incredibly successful industries. When we shift our dollars from toys to travel, for instance, we are still supporting big business.

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Image: healthaim.com

As France Drops Bombs, I Demand Peace

There is a bitter, ugly irony today in the trending hashtag #Pray4Paris and the haunting “Peace for Paris” graphic shown alongside the news of France’s military strikes against ISIS-held positions on Sunday.

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Image via Sesame Street

Why It Matters That Sesame Street's First Muppet With Autism Is A Girl

It took five years for my daughter to be diagnosed with autism. There were dozens of red flags, beginning from the time she was about 10 months old, but her pediatrician always told me that she was fine. "She made eye contact with me," she reassured me. "She can't be on the spectrum." Besides, most children with autism, she reminded me, are boys.

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The author meets Macklemore.

What Macklemore's Relapse Reminded Me About Loving An Addict

What I do know is what it is like to be the wife of an addict, and those years taught me to claim responsibility for addictions that aren't my own. Thankfully, while that is still my first instinct, I have come far enough now to pause and remind myself that I am no one's caretaker. I am not responsible for my ex-husband's addiction, and I am certainly not responsible for Macklemore's.

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Kentucky Clerk Sent to Jail For Defying Order to Issue Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

To further emphasize what can only be described as a batshitcrazy level of hypocrisy, a petition has been started on change.org to ensure that Davis receives the Biblical treatment for her own "misdeeds" –– stoning. While I wouldn't go quite that far, the point is taken. Multiple other petitions have also been started to remove her from office.

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Credit: ThinkStock

Debate On "Free-Range Parenting" Obscures Real Issues Facing Children

It's easy and painless to poke our noses into the minutiae of other parents' decisions, but it in no way tackles the real epidemic of child abuse.

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Japan Implores Customers Not To Have Sex With Robots, Crushes Hopes Everywhere

Most stories involving robots that have been developed to think and feel end with robot uprisings and the near annihilation of the human race.

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School Bans Tag At Recess And Childhood Is Officially Dead

It's hard to think of anything more synonymous with childhood than playing tag.

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