LeoLin Bowen

I call it the look. The slight tilt of the head confused look that people give me when they find out that I am the “weekend” parent.

Inevitably, it happens. A well-meaning (or maybe not so well-meaning) white person will utter the phrase, “Well, I just don’t see color.”

“This is what happens when people stop being polite and start getting real.” My home is a cooperative house on the South Side of Chicago.

“I just love your squishy belly!” Then, as only children can do, he gave it a nickname: belly jelly. So I'm learning to love my belly jelly.

Be careful what you wish for because at eight years old my son is exactly like his father in this aspect. I'm now raising an outgoing kid and I'm reserved.

I didn’t see similarities between my mother and I until years later, after I became a mother. The constant conflict hid how my mother and I are alike.

What is different now is that I know who I am and what I want. I’m not afraid to be alone and living single. I value my time and my health.

I am not the only one who is running on this hamster wheel of debt. In 2017 Americans had a revolving debt of $1,022 billion. So, dear debt, it's over!

You are about to embark on a journey that you will be talking about and remembering for the rest of your life, so spend these next year’s enjoying it.