I had one of those quiet realizations the other day. Not the glamorous kind where everything suddenly makes sense. More the kind that arrives in the middle of a conversation and stays with you afterward. I have never done this before. Not parenting in general, but parenting this…
Keep readingI thought I was raising them.
They were raising me.
Essays from a Chinese mom of twins, written between Beijing and the California coast, about the stages nobody warned me would feel brand new.
Read the first essayTwo cities. One home.
Beijingbelonging, fairness, becomingCalifornia
Essays
You Don’t Need a Best Friend
As our kids grow into teenagers, their social worlds get complicated fast. Friendships that once seemed effortless start to feel fragile. Being left out of a group chat, seeing photos of friends hanging out without you, or finding out your best friend has another best friend can feel…
Keep readingToo Chinese there, too American here
My daughter once told me she feels too Chinese in America and too American in Beijing. I did not know how to answer at first. That sentence became the beginning of many deeper conversations about belonging, fairness, and what our children carry that we cannot always see.
From the notebook. The full essay is on its way.