Kinship
It's vibe shift season, baby – and about time, too. Happy summer, aunties! I am loving all the pieces I’ve seen lately about a vibe shift in the direction of love, joy, caring, and community. No false modesty necessary here: we aunties have been on the hope train
Culture
There aren’t any, and that’s by design. So, have you read Yesteryear? I read the first two chapters as a free preview in the public library’s Libby app, and I think that’s enough for me. I’ll say more about why shortly. But first, for Auntie
Community Care
And what came next… Today we have a guest post from the lovely Lexi Weber Johnson, whose work I didn’t know until she reached out to me to pitch this story about sobriety, infertility, and auntiehood. I took a look at her newsletter, Not Expecting, which turned out to
Community Care
“Attunement to a small person's needs is there in anyone, ready to get unlocked.” There’s not much social science research out there about alloparents. Here’s where you tend to find us: in biological research about the animal kingdom (elephants, whales, birds, primates – lots of aunties!) and
Aunties
Time to offset the fools on the news and soak up wholesome content instead. Hey Aunties, welcome to your end-of-May care package! This is the part where always I acknowledge what rough and ugly times we are living through (because it keeps on being true). I talk about
Design
"Make it look like a pack of children’s markers, please." Today’s post is a little different from our typical content, aunties, but I’ve been slowly working toward a newsletter rebrand since the fall, and it’s finally time, and I’m really excited about it.
Culture
Uncomfortable truths that you probably won’t like, from someone who’s been forced to rest a lot. Rest! It’s the best! Or at any rate, rest would be the best if it weren’t so stupidly hard to pull off. Sure, it’s hard to carve out the
Parenting
When has a nuclear experiment ever been good, honestly? I got to go on Virginia Sole-Smith’s Burnt Toast podcast recently, which was so awesome. I’m a longtime fan[[1]] of Virginia’s anti-diet parenting newsletter and podcast and grateful for the exposure to her large and
Aunties
You can start a summer camp now. I first came to Substack by way of Anne Helen Petersen’s consistently excellent newsletter, Culture Study. I knew nothing about the Substack platform, but I got wind of AHP’s newsletter, started subscribing, and read it eagerly as soon as it hit
Women
From compulsory parenthood to informed consent. It took my partner and me a long time to decide not to become parents. We really wrestled with it. I had never wanted kids until, literally from one moment to the next, I did. My partner was game, so we started trying. I
Family
So 👋 many 👋 waving 👋 hand 👋 emojis 👋. I don’t know about you, but the idea that sensitive, neurodivergent, introverted adults would be great with kids strikes me as counterintuitive. Those of us with sensory sensitivities (hi! 👋) often have very specific needs around lighting, noise levels, smells, messes, and bodies careening around
Parenting
Kids don't want to make polite conversation. Here's what they want to talk about instead. There’s a nine year old in my life who I only see occasionally because he and his family live in another state. He’s historically had approximately zero interest in