INTRODUCTION:
Recently, Hayden Panettiere talked to 'Live with Kelly and Michael' openly about postpartum depression, and how confusing a time this can be for new mothers. Mothers everywhere applauded and thanked her for her courage. In the spirit of openness, I would like to share a breakdown I had too.
I have not suffered with postpartum depression and I felt very lucky about that. I was worried I might be particularly susceptible to it because I have mental health issues in my family, such as bipolar disorder. That being said I'm still a human in the new and all encompassing world of parenthood and I did recently have a very overwhelming emotional breakdown. It was a compilation of many things-but was brought to a head by Nintendo's new Super Mario Maker.
Now that you have likely scoured the internet and all the baby name books, sharing with your partner names that aren't completely atrocious-who comes up with these? Comes "Namey" a new app that makes searching for names easy and fun...
As a new mom, I wonder about other mothers and motherhood in general sometimes-it can be pretty isolating when you haven't got your shit together just yet. Because my son will only sleep while touching me, and I can't just sleep sitting up, and he's already teething and not sleeping a ton-thanks for nothing milestone books, I wonder about absurd things sometimes. Today's absurd train of thought is about the Hemsworth Brothers...
Foster care is one of those things people don't usually discuss. There's this weird stereotype that exists in that community that those kids are different, even dangerous. I rather blame shows like Criminal Minds. Usually 99% of their serial killers grew up in foster care. People are so helpful. I suppose the idea is that these kids come with baggage that people just don't want to deal with. Which I guess is why about 18,000 kids per year "age out" of foster care having never been adopted. This was always strange to me because of the desperation of people looking to adopt-spending thousands to go abroad and adopt foreign born babies-but I digress.
I grew up in foster care and over the years, I have been asked everything you can possibly imagine, usually by strangers, because I've been forced to reveal that fact about myself. It's human nature. People are curious about things that aren't their experience. I even did an expert panel where potential foster parents had questions about their future foster children, really wild.
It's usually well meaning, and I always felt if a little discomfort to me as an adult helped even one kid not have to feel ostracized, then it's worth it! Here are the Frequently Asked Questions on growing up in foster care.