Latest Stories

Most recently published stories in Families.

10 Things I Love About My Mother
How many of you like me had rocky relationships with your mum growing up? Boy! I thought she hated me! But as I have grown older (and hopefully, a little wiser) I have come to understand so much about her, the premises of our past misunderstandings and her undying love for her husband (my father), me, my brothers and their families.
By Test6 years ago in Families
The Children Who Inspire
When I think about the women who have inspired me in my life, I find that I am confronted by a mental list that is broader than it is long. It is hard to place those that lead in a linear field: their influence is one which has as much breadth as depth.
By Dorothy Henderosn6 years ago in Families
Stay at Home, Working Mom
Congratulations on being a mother! We can all agree that this is one of the hardest, but rewarding jobs a woman can have! When my son was born, I instantly had a desire to give him everything in the world. I wanted to be a stay at home mom. Unfortunately, I was a single parent in a sticky financial situation. I was fresh out of high school and still working in the food industry. Lucky for me, God answered prayer and soon I was home full time with my son, and earning a salary!
By Stephanie Nail6 years ago in Families
My Big Fat Greek.....Life
As many may have figured from my last name starting with an X and sounding like something you’ve never even heard of I am here to tell that even though many may think that my life is certainly compared the movie “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” there are many things that are very different in comparison. For one, my dad doesn’t chase people around the house with windex cleanse and spray us with it if we have an ailment, even though that was pretty funny 🤣and another big thing that many non-Greeks believe after watching this movie is that all Greeks must marry within the Greek community. Well I beg to differ on that one. My godmother actually married an Italian man, hence making my godfather a non-Greek and my two god sisters half Italian and half Greek which in my book is a pretty cool mix. My back story starts like this; my dad first came to the US in the late 1970’s when he was only about 18 years old. He lived in Jersey City, New Jersey and took the ferry into Manhattan and worked as a dishwasher just trying to make ends meet. A few years go by, circa 1983 he goes back to the motherland to become a godfather himself, to who else, my older cousin George. Mind you my aunt set this up completely because she wanted him to meet my mother. And so the story goes that my dad met my mom at my cousins baptism and year later they were married. Eventually they moved back to Jersey and three years later they had my sister, Maria. When she was three they moved to Long Island, NY and two years after that they decided to have me 😳🙂🤣. At the time my dad and uncle Mike had opened up their little version of a coffee shop in Forest Hills, Queens, (which is still there folks go check it out it’s the bomb diggity!). It’s still there to this day even though with this whole corona virus going on we are still doing deliveries and take outs so please go check us out! We need all the help we can get!! But anyway, growing up with 2 immigrant parents from Greece has been totally normal besides the fact that I had to go to Greek school and Greek dance and Sunday school on sundays I still did the normal everyday kid things. I played clarinet in the elementary school band and I was even a Girl Scout. But let me not bore you any further, yes my family is huge and loud and I love them all to death. Hope you like my story 🙂🧐
By Angela Xerakias6 years ago in Families
The Dark Side of Parenting: Newborns
Every single parent has it in their right mind to act sane and plead purity when tackling the newborn stage – no matter what child it is in the family tree. Nobody wants to talk about the insecurities and concerns over those first six months; especially Dads, who essentially hide every emotion and bury it in an hourglass. But, the truth is – there is a dark side to parenting.
By Jord Tury6 years ago in Families
Perdido
“I’m lost,” The young boy says again, his small, quiet voice screaming in my head. Forcing me to listen, I look down at him, his dark brown hair falling just shy of his eyebrows, his bed dress a grey colour, drowning him in the material. And his beautiful lapis-lazuli eyes gazing at me with hope. I look away in shame and close my eyes tight to block out the image that is before me. I hold back tears with all my strength, not wanting to show the young one my guilt. As I look back to him, all I see is the edge of the cliff. I turn sharply and see the boy standing behind me, he coughs and I fly backwards off of the edge.
By Saffron Dixon6 years ago in Families
9 Things That I Wasn’t Expecting When I Had an Emergency C-Section
After the gruelling labour of my 9lb 9oz son ended in him being forcibly removed by a nice, Scottish doctor wielding a pair of forceps, I was no stranger to the fact that childbirth doesn't always go to plan. Well prepared that I probably wasn't going to have an easy time, my "birth plan" was simple. Get to the hospital; remain calm; stay upright and active as much as possible; and do everything I could to avoid having a caesarean.
By Rebekah Crawley6 years ago in Families
A 4ft 11" inspiration
The woman who has really inspired me, particularly once I became a mother myself and started to UNDERSTAND, you know, really GET, just how tough being a parent can be - is my mum. My mum is called Julie, and she's now nearly sixty, which I find astonishing as in my mind I'm still a little girl and she's still a young, pretty mother, with big, soulful green eyes, straight brown hair, and huge owl glasses. Standing approximately 4 feet 11 inches tall, yet with the strength and courage of a giant.
By Karen Cave6 years ago in Families
The Woman Who Inspired Me
There were many times in my life when I came across the question of who my hero was. The question would shift and change but it always meant the same. Who Inspired me? Who was molding and shaping me into the woman I would become? I would ponder and yet I always saw the answer. The sweet eyes and quiet strength of my grandmother was an image that would appear in my mind. As I grew up, I understood womanhood and what it means to have passion from what I consider, my other mother. I know that the question of who my inspiration was had only been my conscience not wanting to feel guilty. I was raised by my father and my mother was still present in my life. I chose to ask myself the question even though I always knew.
By Monica Davis6 years ago in Families
The House Full Of Water Cups
There was this house full of water. This house was on a hill where no one wanted to go because of the fact that the house is full off water around every corner and the reasons for that I will tell you later in the story.
By Katrina Reidy6 years ago in Families
The 30th that proved right
I hit my 30th with true drunken Dionysus style. Probably more Dionysian than strictly necessary, but it was a dream 30 years in the making, so it needed to be epic. I had two hot ass bartenders wearing speedos, because I deserve to objectify hot men on my birthday. One was a bartender I met at my farewell drinks from KRONOS, the other was his mate who was a model. I propositioned Mark at the Ivanhoe, and he said he would be happy to walk around my house half naked and serve drinks at my 30th, for a price of course. After that it just felt so unnecessary to go online looking for hot wait staff for hire, only for them to turn up looking like the elephant man’s less attractive younger brother. That’s the problem with online these days. With all the filters and stuff, a photo can be a bit deceptive. On a related note, what counts as hot these days can be a bit confusing. I blame the body positivity movement. I am all for people loving themselves just the way they are, but that doesn’t mean my penis has to agree with your self-assessment of your own hotness. No amount of social engineering is going to change the basics of mainstream attractiveness. Sure, there will always be people with specific fetishes, if bed bound morbidly obese people light your fire, no shame in that, go get your tubby lover. There are plenty of people out there who are into amputees, but the reality is most people are programmed to prefer symmetry. The reality is the vast majority of people are not going to be into non-mainstream, you can shriek on social media about how beautiful you are, and to someone you will be, but that doesn’t mean I want you in speedos serving cocktails at my party.
By Brendon6 years ago in Families
How Owen Davis' "Infinity Train" Showcases Death Onscreen; And Why It's Important
On January 9th, 2020, the main character of a television show broadcasted on Cartoon Network was shown murdering another character onscreen. M.T. (a.k.a. Lake) is the standoffish protagonist in Owen Davis’ show “Infinity Train”, where the passengers are regular people, plucked from their real life and boarded onto the mysterious train. The series portrays the character dealing with uncomfortable situations, such as divorce, bullying and death. The latter, takes shape in many forms throughout the series, the most gruesome example being the demise of one of the main antagonists. Although at first glance this scene may seem inappropriate to have on a children’s tv show, there are many more programs today that try to broach more mature topics with their younger audiences. And in a society where people are more openly discussing their own issues and fears, the importance of responsibly educating young viewers about the real world becomes crucial to their development, as well as our own.
By JP Guen6 years ago in Families