My daughter Nadjah is overly obsessed with comparisons. “Mommy? Who crawled the fastest when they were babies?” she often asks. “I dunno, sweetie.” “Mommy? Who cried the loudest?” “I’d have to say Liya,” I generally reply. “Mommy? Who was the messiest eater? Who pooped the most?” God if I even care! You were all messy […]
Last week the whole e-Parenting world was abuzz and ablaze after an excerpt of Amy Chau’s book Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother was printed by the WSJ under the title “Why Chinese Mothers Superior.” In it, Ms. Chua describes how she would make her children practice piano and violin for hours on end every […]
About a month ago, my daughter joined the ubiquitous Girl Scouts organization as a Daisy. I’ve always wanted to be a scout. I was a Girl Guide in Junior Secondary School (JSS), but that’s analogous to comparing the Beatles to Corky and the Juice Pigs [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwO33oUawM8]. Same genre, just way (way!) less cool. When Nadjah first joined the […]
Our house must’ve been one of the few homes in America that did not have a gaming system. Well, that’s not entirely true. Last Christmas, my husband gleefully brought home his circa 1992 Nintendo gaming console (complete with a vintage Street Fighter cartridge) that had been holed up in his parents’ basement in Ohio for […]
Ahhh Chrit-mah time. It truly is the MOST wonderful time of the year. Now that I have children who are in elementary school, part of that wonder is getting to watch them perform on stage. -Enter- The Church Christmas Play/Extravaganza Ever since Nadjah was a 2 year old toddler, she has been itching to be […]
In 2004 I was in the best physical shape of my life. I was the full back defender on a ladies Gaelic football team in Atlanta and running everyday. I had also just started my first professional job, pulling in $30K a year and receiving massive praise for the work I was doing from my […]
Every stage in your child’s life manifests something magical and comes with its own set of amusements. Their first steps, their first words, an uncanny aversion to the sound of a blender or a vacuum cleaner – each is special. At this point in my eldest’s 6 year old life, we are entering the realm […]
Oh My GAWD!! Somebody help me!! Somebody took my baby!!! My baby is GONE!!!! I left my baby and went to Ghana for only seven weeks. He was a sweet cuddly boy, whose only ambition at the time was to procure a warm cup of milk and perhaps the bulk of YOUR food. That aside, […]
Black Eye trans: a.k.a asalla/azoh. A Ghanaian term for a retort so sharp that the recipient is rendered speechless. A mythical Ghanaian man will then jump out of the bushes, fist over agape mouth and cry “Oooooohhh!!!” when the ‘black eye’ has been delivered. ********* The DAY we got back from Ghana, Douche Bag called […]
*Shaking my head in shame* I have always known that the American primary education system was failing students across the country, but today, I got a rude awakening as to HOW FAR this failure goes. Whenever a child learns to read by the age of 3 in America, we’re in awe. If a child can’t […]
Last week, Shaquan Duley suffocated her 2 and 1 year old sons in a motel room, strapped them into their car seats, drove 10 miles away and back the car into a river with their lifeless bodies still inside. Today, she sits in jail on murder charges. For most people familiar with the story, it […]
In the last 2 years, a whole bunch of dudes I know have had children – well, their wives/girlfriends have anyway. Outwardly, they’ve all handled about the same. They’ve punched the air and/or uttered a bewildered “WHAT?!?!” at the reception of the news that their progeny will be entering the world in 9 months or […]
If you’ve ever lost your family, or had no family to begin with, perhaps the best thing that could ever happen to you is to have someone adopt you. That, or hijack someone else’s clan and claim them for your own. Over the last few months, I have come to know and love the Joseph […]
As I was laying in the post -op recovery room last week, my guts just exposed to a room full of people not 20 minutes before, I looked over a saw a perky brunette surrounded by a gaggle of nurses. Her very skittish husband was glued to her side. His mannerisms and the look on […]
(This is what it sounds like when doves cry) I’ve had 4 pregnancies in 6 years and every one of them has been unique. I’ve had preeclampsia, a placenta previa, a fetus suspected/diagnosed as having Down’s Syndrome, and one regular term birth with no issues. In every instance, my hair has summed up the story […]
You know what the hardest part about becoming a new mom is? It’s not the fact that you have this brand new life whose very survival is dependent upon your every breath; it’s not the irrevocable change to every facet of your life that comes with cohabiting with your new “room mate” (i.e. the baby); […]
Man, I struggled with what to call this post. Here are a couple of titles I contemplated: 1) Self-exploration and my 5 year old 2) Your hoo-hoo is supposed to look like that 3) For the love of Pete, don’t scratch yourself down there! I struggled even more with whether or not to write this […]
You see that old Black man with the self-satisfied smirk on his face and a knot on his forehead? That’s Kwasi Gyekye – my dad and the first love of my life. I have measured every man’s ability by his; whether that be an ability to comfort me, provide for me, praise or belittle me […]
Anyone who has spent any amount of time in a grocery store, a parking lot, a laundromat, or any public place has witnessed the antics of “that” mother. You know: The one who goes berserk because her kid was running unchaperoned down the aisle and ran into your cart, and subsequently gets royally pissed because […]
When my sister told me that she was pregnant last September, I was pretty sure she was lying. It’s hard to trust any one of my siblings – We all have a cruel sense of humor and every year we engage in a 9 month long marathon of practical jokery that we have termed “April […]
In the world of reproductive activity there are 3 types of women. There are those who are barren and will never have children: In fact, some are so allergic to their mate’s semen that they break out in rashes upon seminal contact. Then there are those in the middle…the masses, who may or may not get pregnant […]