Tag: parenting

Suburban Rant

Shanna DeMott

Every day as a parent, I feel as if I’ve failed. It never gets easier, does it? Today when I dropped my daughter off at her new school, I felt her apprehension. It was a tangible, ‘reach out and cut it with a knife’ sort of hesitation. She hustled to Read more

Shanna DeMott

Shanna Sabet-DeMott is a freelance writer living in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her husband George DeMott, sings Italian arias in the shower, and Pop-Opera around the world. She has an 11-year old daughter who has survived 3 brain surgeries, and who has shown her Mama the meaning of bravery at every turn. She is a lover of telling stories about food and life on her blogs, eatingoutvegas.com and stumblingbeauty.com.

We All Bleed Red: Saving My Daughter from Suicide

Allison Hill

Suicide entered my life kind of the way spring enters with the change of seasons, in like a lion out like a lamb. Its grip caught hold of someone I loved and used all its power and might to try and take them from me. I did not let it Read more

Allison Hill

Allison Hill currently writes a blog called AccidentallyAllison. She has written and done speaking engagements on her work for the past year. Her blog is her chronological journey of transformation on her quest for never-ending love, making everyone feel normal; one disastrous relationship at a time. The funny thing about relationships is the fact that they seem to be a big factor in us defining our self-worth. This is where Allison's story begins.

Bergamot

Tennessee Hill

Our girl was seventeen, and she didn’t think we knew what that meant. The space between us and our girl is bridged by stories that feel like figments, to her they are not who we are. It is a dangerous thing to play, hopscotch across the lines that gate us Read more

Tennessee Hill

Tennessee Hill is a sophomore at Stephen F. Austin State University working toward her BFA in Creative Writing. She has been featured in Elke Journal, Kaaterskill Basin, and HUMID. She is also a featured contributor on Teen Collective (teencollective.me), Feminine Collective's blog written by teens for teens.

How to Stop Nagging and Start Loving

SA Smith

We’ve all been there. We’re tired, overworked and can feel it coming on. We lash out at the people around us, knowing we’re doing it, and yet we can’t stop. That’s usually when the nagging starts. We nag at our partners, our children, hell we even nag at the family Read more

SA Smith

SA Smith has always loved the magical life. She is the bestselling Amazon author of FOREVER, her four part young adult paranormal romance series. She is an advocate for women of all shapes and sizes. Believing that we are all enough just as we are, and needing to spread that word far and wide. Having been diagnosed with CRPS over 12 years ago, SA also uses her writing to increase social awareness of the disease. Writing is her passion. She often tells friends that writing is a journey for her. It’s like spending time with friends. "I just follow my characters along on their adventures, like a fly on the wall, and see where they take me." SA currently lives in Florida with her best friend/husband and their one son.

The Murder of Ashley Smith: Was it Negligent Homicide?

Lise LaSalle

As a Canadian, I have always been extremely proud of the fact that we don’t have capital punishment. Our institutions feed their inmates correctly and have a decent reputation. I cringe at the idea of the tent city jail in Arizona, where Sheriff Arpaio prides himself on keeping inmates in Read more

Lise LaSalle

"In the pursuit of justice, due process and fairness ought to be valued." My name is Lise Lasalle and I live in beautiful British Columbia. As an experienced Court and Legislative Interpreter, I know the importance of always questioning facts and especially the news. To analyze a case, you have to remain objective and fight any type of bias or emotions towards the people involved. It is about evidence and a search for the truth. But we all know that facts are often interpreted according to the result aimed at by the prosecution or the defence. The emotional aspect of a case has to be reserved for the human treatment of inmates and their rehabilitation. Restorative Justice should be at the forefront of any judiciary and penal systems. Cases exist of dangerous offenders representing a permanent threat to society and who will never be rehabilitated. But it remains important to preserve the integrity of their incarceration. Punishment often becomes a disguise for revenge. During my activities as a prison volunteer, I realized that criminals are not always on the right side of the bars. When she system and the media combine their efforts to entrap someone, it takes gigantic efforts to repair or remedy a wrongful conviction. I am totally against the death penalty and any type of prolonged solitary confinement except in cases of extremely dangerous offenders. Punishment is not for revenge, but to lessen crime and reform the criminal – Elizabeth Fry

Pitch Black

Renee DeMont

It was more like the crack of a shotgun, than an explosion. Breath caught in my throat. Flinching, I recoiled into a ball; my legs and torso bare; blankets lost sometime during the night, in a battle of siblings fighting for warmth. There was a storm raging outside our motel Read more

Renee DeMont

Renee DeMont is a SURVIVOR. She was born into poverty; spent much of her childhood homeless, living on the streets of Los Angeles, and in foster care. Renee learned early on: life is about adapting to adversity. The greatest gift she ever received? No one expected anything from her. By 18, she was ready to experience life on her own terms. First one in her family to attend college. After college, her focus and determination earned her a spot working at Paramount Studios, on the #1 show in television, "Cheers". At 29, Renee gave entrepreneurship a go and began a Biomedical engineering business out of her garage. Twenty years later, that risky venture grew into 8,000 square feet of success. She broke the cycle of poverty that plagued her family for generations. Recently, Renee turned fifty, filed for divorce (he declared WAR), and trudged through a debilitating nervous breakdown. Through therapy and writing, she reclaimed her sanity. Sold her half of the business to the ex, and now she has clarity and choices. Renee is personally and financially independent. With her new found freedom, she chooses to write in a sincere effort to reconcile her past with her present. Hopefully, through this cathartic process, the second half of her life will be led by her soul's desire, rather than by the fears and doubts of her first half. Currently, she lives in South Orange County with her teenage son and daughter, and her high maintenance yet lovable dog, Joe. Soon to be an empty nester, she plans to downsize the big house in the OC bubble, for a bigger life in the real world. Her days are spent gently launching her almost grown children into adulthood, and passionately penning her memoir. In the mean time, you can find her essays on pain, positivity, and empowerment at: onedropofgrace.blogspot.com

The Film was About Sexual Abuse, and It Described Me …

Rachael Chatoor

I recently received a heartfelt letter from a woman who felt I had written her story and put it into a song; I was very touched by her warm thanks for the understanding she said she felt while listening to it. The song is called “Mama Cried.” It is about Read more

Rachael Chatoor

Rachael has had the eye-opening privilege of living on four different continents over the years. Currently, she resides with her teenage son and daughter in her native city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada where she is a full-time singer/performer/musician as well as artistic painter. She believes in the power of community and the importance of providing a strong, connected, family village for children (whether the parents marriage is intact or not, it should remain both civil, cooperative and caring). She laughs wholeheartedly, feels deeply, resonates fully and when she chooses to love, loves completely. She is a grateful student of life and considers herself an expert mistake-maker (though her years of experience and overcoming in this area have made her practically adept at squashing most of her fears and turning them into lemonade).

January Fourteen: Celebrating Her Son’s Life After Death

Suzan Mikiel

Looking behind me, I twisted my torso and pressed down on the tin canister that sat in the passenger seat as I backed up the car. A horrid pop song played on the radio. I don’t normally think the word “horrid”, but I was in mom mode, so my mind Read more

Suzan Mikiel

Suzan is a Detroit native who lives in Los Angeles by way of New York. She is an actor and writer, and loves her three cities and all the memories they keep. Her work has been published in Oxford Magazine.