Leolin Bowen

“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.

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.

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.”

I was a good girl from the start. Now I am speaking up, setting boundaries, saying no to the things I don’t want and yes to the things that I do.

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.

I am usually introduced to people as “the vegan.” I get it. Vegan is the new “it” word and now you are actually meeting one.

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!

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.

Dating in my 30’s is not like dating in my 20’s in several ways.

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.