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Real Talk: Women and Family

Y'all know I'm not afraid to open up the big ol' taboo box and pick a topic and then wave around a brightly lit flag that says, "OVER HERE! LOOK OVER HERE AT WHAT WE'RE TALKING ABOUT." I've done it before. And I want to do it again.

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It's the start of August, and the closest I have to vacation time this year, so I think it's time for some straight talk about big things, thoughts that have been rolling around in my head for awhile, questions that keep me up at night, and dilemmas that, quite frankly, need more attention.

Let's get real.

Let's talk about some lady things.

Now before you men run off and say, "OH, OKAY, SEE YOU LATER," I'd like to ask you to stick around. Because all men have women in their families, and likely have lady-friends, and lady-colleagues, and other kinds of relationships that involve ladies, whether professional or personal. And  I (almost) guarantee you that these posts will help you understand women better. At the very least, I guarantee you that there will be valuable information that has the potential to make you a better son/brother/friend/colleague/listener/lover/human to the women in your life. Depending on how you choose to use it, which is entirely up to you. As is the choice to read along or bow out of the planned dialogues ahead of us.


The Context: Three years ago, I was in my late twenties, riding solo in a vast wasteland of romance, navigating grown-up relationships with my family of origin and contemplating what building a family might look like if my future remained entirely my own. Today, I'm married, still navigating grown-up relationships with my own family, getting to know a second family, and contemplating what building a family might look like with the two of us planning our future together.

It's a lot. And within this shifting framework, there are several big issues/questions/dilemmas that tangle themselves up together and all follow this thread of women and family. So these are the things I'd like to discuss...


The Topics:

  • All Families Are Messed Up; Learning to Love Yours Anyway 
  • The Right Way To Build a Family - In 12 Million Easy Steps
  • Careers & Motherhood: Are They Totally Incompatible?
  • Babies Are Not Guaranteed (That Time A Doctor Told Me I Can't Have Children Without Help)
  • and maybe more?

The Format:

I'll write a blog post with some of my own life story, some of my big questions, and any quasi-answers I've come up with to said questions...Then I'll share the posts and invite you in -


The Invite:

Join me?
Read along?
Ladies, share your stories/questions/concerns!
Menfolks, share your stories/questions/curiousity!*

You're all welcome to leave a comment on the blog itself, or on the Facebook post, or in a Twitter thread, or in a private message. Depending on the feedback, I may make all your content into a post or two of its own! (never without your permission, of course).

I'm looking forward to this!! At the very least, I think it's going to help this tired-out-soul to think a little more clearly :)



*(Mansplaining will not be tolerated. I will edit/delete/respond to comments that diminish or make light of the honest conversations I'm looking for.)

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