This piece is a follow up to the essay, “Accidentally Childfree”.
“Do you want to be in your marriage?” She asked me, matter-of-factly.
For months I wrestled with this question, always too afraid to broach it during daylight hours. But here we were, in her bright little office, and her words flooded the room.
On that day, I did not have an answer for her.
Raising a child is a difficult feat. Raising a brown child in America is even trickier. Raising a brown, Muslim child in America seems almost impossible. Although I experienced the stress and love of caring for my son Ibrahim, who endured an illness and eventually passed away, I am now…
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Kyle was absorbed in a videogame on his cellphone, so I asked his mom, “How long has Kyle had a stomach ache?” Mom said, “I’m thinking it’s been about two days.” Then Kyle replied, “Shut up, mom. You don’t know what you’re talking about.” And he gave a snorty laugh,…
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“Who are YOU?” asked the Caterpillar of Alice. It is a question that creeps into the minds of married women and mothers everywhere. “Who am I?” Like Alice, we struggle to find an answer. We swell and contract into so many sizes—both literally and figuratively—to meet the needs of our…
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As a true 80s/90s child I grew up on admittedly inappropriate music. As a five-year-old, I sang along to Madonna’s “Like a Virgin,” (thank you MTV) and both my mother and I listened to ABBA, Donna Summer and Boney M. Those were my Western musical influences, but worse still were…
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A few hours after hitting its all-time stock price high today, Netflix has announced a new program for all employees. In a blog post, the company outlined its unlimited maternity and paternity leave program. Its Chief Talent Office, Tawni Cranz, said: At Netflix, we work hard to foster a “freedom and…
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[columns_row width=”third”] [column] Mariam Ahmed is a regulatory lawyer. Raised in the U.S, Mariam moved from a law firm in the U.S. to work at a futures exchange in Dubai, where she is currently the Head of Compliance & Risk. Mariam and her husband, Haroon, have two little boys, Hamza…
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“H-H-Hello, Asalaamu’alaykum. Umm, my name is Amna and I have two young children. The state is terminating my parental rights, and there’s nothing I can do. I didn’t know who else to call.
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Now, that may sound like a weighty question for a single mom to answer, but I welcome it. My four-year-old has been interested in my love life as of late (kindergarten matchmaker perhaps?) and she has approached me with one question after another on the matter. Fortunately, her interrogations amuse…
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Work-life balance is an issue of tremendous perplexity — and one that plagues every woman who seeks to “have it all.” altM will be featuring a series of conversation-style pieces between working moms Asma and Mariam (both lawyers who have been practicing for 10 years) that will explore the struggles…
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