Kristi Pahr

Soundgarden was part of something bigger, something that changed everything.

I’m frazzled, y’all; I’m a mess. I’m a basketcase of anxiety and stress and I need to chill.

As a mother of boys, I find this trend disturbing. Yes, we need to build up our girls. We need to empower them and teach them that they are capable and viable and powerful — that they are smart and that they matter. But we cannot devalue our boys in the process.

My version of self-care is a little less “best life” and a little more “no life”, but it works for me.

When my oldest son was a baby, my husband and I used to talk about what sports he would play.

I know how it feels to not contribute financially to the household. I know how it feels to be completely dependent on someone else for my financial stability. I know how it feels to know that if something dreadful and unthinkable happened, I’d be completely destitute. And it’s terrifying.

“Is she Black or white?” I asked another mom who was describing a little girl in her son’s class that she thought my family might know.