Motherhood

A Cultural Dilemma

Nadjah ripped open her backpack last week and thrust a sheet of paper in my face. It was a permission slip from her school, requesting my signature to allow my student to participate/try out in the school’s first ever Cultural Talent show. “Presentations must be…

Frightening my Family into Fitness

They say that half of all Americans will be obese by the year 2030 if the trends we’ve seen in the last few decades are not reversed. Think about that: Fifty percent! Take a look at the person sitting across from you right now. If…

The Rise of the Panther Mom

Move over Tiger Mom…or at least scoot over a tad. There is a new ferocious feline matriarch on the prowl, and her name is “Panther Mom.” And, as her name suggests, she is Black. I was visiting Mom Five Times a few days ago when…

Your kids (and therefore YOU) are not welcome here

Have you noticed this anti-kid movement gaining steam in recent months and weeks? Large corporations and small businesses alike are beginning to impose bans on small children, preventing parents and children alike from patronizing particular establishments. Hey, we live in a free world and capitalist…

Honestly Mom, You Stink

If you didn’t have thick skin before you had kids, you will certainly develop it afterwards. From the moment a child is conceived, he/she changes your life.  From morning sickness to stretch marks to, hair loss to weight gain, nothing ever is really the same…

Stone, the Mutt Whisperer

Move over Cesar Millan! There’s a new canine charmer in town, and his name is Stone Grant.   There is only one thing my son loves more than the outdoors, and that’s putting the outdoors in his mouth. Previously I would merely grimace when he…

R.I.P: My Former Cool Self

Caroline says I have a permanent scowl on my face. "I never see you smiling," she burst one day. I looked up from the diaper I was changing/floor I was sweeping/laundry I was washing/child I was chastising (I don't recall, but surely I was doing…

Malaka vs the Broad in Education

I haven’t spent much time blogging these last few days because I’ve been dealing with an issue at my daughter’s school: specifically, her attitude in class. Nadjah has had a difficult kindergarten experience, to say the least. She spent 2 months of the first semester…

Naturally Helping a Sista Out!

Two weekends ago I abducted The Fabulous Akuba Sheen(!) and Caroline and drove off to the Natural Hair Expo on Camp Creek Rd. I’ve heard about the pomp and pageantry that takes place at this even year after year, but work or child care has…

Panic: The Sixth Parental Sense

Human beings are (usually) born with five senses: smell, touch, sight, taste and hearing. (Had to list them out, in case any geniuses out there didn’t know what they were.) But the on the day that your first child is born- the very day you…