Said my daughter as I tucked her in last night.
As a child, I often got bullied. I never stood up for myself. I internalized negative comment after negative comment. Last night, I shared this with my daughter.
I told her the story because she stood up to her bully.
She looked at me and said, “if I were with you when you were a little girl, I’d say don’t make fun of my mom.”
At that moment, I felt accomplished. I was proud to have raised an incredible human being with kindness and strength.
I tucked her in, told her I was proud of her, and kissed her good night. …
Last July was the last time we spoke.
We became friends at 15. We’d take 4-hour train rides to spend time together during college. We planned each other’s weddings and baby showers. We were there for each other during deaths in the family. I never envisioned my life without her. We’d often joke that we’d be causing havoc in the same nursing home.
But now, we don’t speak. And I don’t know if we will again.
Somewhere in the past 5 years, things changed. Every encounter with her left me annoyed. She’d talk about her brand, growing her Instagram following, and sometimes pull up her phone and scroll as we were speaking. …
In reference to my neighbor’s 13 year old daughter
At a Halloween gathering in the neighborhood, I mentioned to my neighbor how her daughter had blossomed. She told me her daughter was dieting.
Dieting? Really? Since when did a 13 year old start dieting?
Another neighbor nodded her head in agreement. Dieting, it’s going to last her whole life.
What? Since when do you need to diet your entire life? Did I miss the memo? When did it become the norm for women to diet?
Yes I’ve dieted. I’ve avoided carbs. I’ve tried Paleo and Keto. I’ve done a juice cleanse. But I didn’t start these ridiculous things until my 20s. At 13, I wasn’t focused on dieting. …
Last summer, my boss had a socially distanced barbeque for our small team in his beautiful backyard. While there, we ate Korean barbeque and sampled a variety of other Asian dishes that were absolutely delicious. We drank Pellegrino. We drank wine after glass of wine.
When my boss’s wife served dessert, she also brought out an espresso, oat milk and honey drink. I sipped the drink in delight. It was so delicious I wanted to make it at home.
I didn’t have an espresso machine, so I used regular coffee. I went to Whole Foods and purchased oat milk. I had raw honey at home and used that in the drink. It wasn’t disgusting but it wasn’t the same. Coffee clearly wasn’t a substitute for espresso. …
After all the hype, I decided to apply to be a newsbreak creator. It has nothing to do with Medium. I wanted to diversify my writing, be exposed to a slightly different audience, and see if I could make supplemental income. I have no intentions of leaving Medium. I’ve enjoyed this platform for over a year now and have read some great stories. Disclaimer done, let’s talk about Newsbreak.
I dedicated myself to writing in December. After my application was accepted, which took around 3 days. I waited another 2 to receive a contract. After signing it, I immediately started writing. …
My daughter is one of a kind. She has an admirable free spirit. She’s advocated for herself since age 2. She also writes her letters backwards. It’s all part of her charm.
Two days ago, she happily came downstairs to tell me her first tooth fell out while brushing her teeth. I gave her a hug, congratulated her and told her to put it under her pillow for the tooth fairy.
She spent the entire day focused on the tooth fairy’s arrival. When would she come? What would she give her?
“The standing rate is $20 for your first tooth,” my son told her. She smiled thinking about all the things she could buy with $20. …
This year will forever be ingrained in my mind. The year my children were homeschooled. The year my grandmother died. The year my dog died. The year my husband struggled to find work. The year my mother sold my childhood home.
It’s been a challenging year. And it’s been downright draining.
But, I’m still thankful.
I’m thankful for the slow down. There is nothing like looking at a blank calendar and spontaneously deciding what to do each day. …
From ages 19–23, I dated a man accused of aggravated assault. Of our four years together, he was in jail for three of them. In order for you to understand how shocking this is, you need to know a little bit about my background. I’ll keep it quick.
I am first generation Indian American. My parents immigrated to the United States in the 1970s. I spent most of my time in cultural Indian dance growing up. I was sheltered and I knew it. I was aware people didn’t have what I had. …
I refer to the image above as my FAD — Fulfillment Audit Dashboard. Each card contains a role I play. Within each card there are questions that allow me to determine if I have met the expectations I set for myself. Each day, I evaluate the expectations and if I have accomplished what I expected of myself.
Most times I don’t check the Personal Growth card. You can see that reflected above. Either my other roles took longer than expected, I had obligations to my children or my husband, or my boss, or I simply got lazy and sat my ass on the couch to watch murder shows on Netflix. …
And give me extra.
I find it especially difficult to watch my weight during the winter months. From October to February, I consume more calories each month than I do the rest of the months. For some, a winter and summer wardrobe are essential for the change in weather. For me, it’s essential due to my fluctuation in weight.
A couple years ago, I became aware of this behavior. I fought it hard. I bought salad bags that sat in the fridge untouched. I bought healthy snacks that ended up in the garbage. Now, I know better. …
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