Leolin Bowen

My son had just lost another tooth. When he looked up at me with his big, brown eyes and asked, “Mommy is the tooth fairy real?”

What is different now is that I know who I am and what I want. I’m not afraid to be alone and living single. I value my time and my health.

I didn’t see similarities between my mother and I until years later, after I became a mother. The constant conflict hid how my mother and I are alike.

I call it the look. The slight tilt of the head confused look that people give me when they find out that I am the “weekend” parent.

Be careful what you wish for because at eight years old my son is exactly like his father in this aspect. I'm now raising an outgoing kid and I'm reserved.

Dating in my 30’s is not like dating in my 20’s in several ways.

I am usually introduced to people as “the vegan.” I get it. Vegan is the new “it” word and now you are actually meeting one.

Wonderful son of mine, I am going to let you in on a little secret. Your mother is a liar. In fact, people lie all of the time.

I knew there was still a culture of fear surrounding black people, but this was the first time I had experienced a person scared of black people.