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
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
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