I started journaling at age 9 when my mother gifted me a pink My Diary book, complete with lock and key, for my birthday. It was there that I first wrote of my puppy love for a 10 year-old boy from church named Charles, documenting every time he looked at me or touched my hand.

While reading the November 9, 2023 edition of the New York Times, I came across a story titled “Linda R. Hirshman, Who Challenged Stay-At-Home Mothers, dies at 79.” Intriguing, I thought. Who is Linda Hirshman? And what does she have to say about stay-at-home moms? Well, she said a lot.

Like others, I’ve spent a good amount of time trying to discover who I am. On the surface, it seems like there should be a simple, straightforward answer to the question, “Who are you?” When asked this question in a professional development session some years ago, my response went something like this:

One of the joys of parenthood is watching your own children become parents. My daughter Casey, a mother of a 7 year-old daughter and 4-year old son, along with her husband Branden, take their roles super seriously. They use kids’ temper tantrums as teachable moments, trying various ways to calm them down, and most important,