Jody Allard

Jody Allard

Bio

Jody Allard is a former techie turned freelance writer living in Seattle. Her online work has appeared on Time, xoJane, and Offbeat Home, among others. She writes primarily about food, family, mothering, and life with a chronic illness. 

Jody Allard Articles

5 Tips For Talking About Incest...From A Survivor Herself

All responses by victims of incest are valid. Fear, anger, and rage are often the most understandable, but victims often love their abusers, too. That love doesn't always vanish the second that abuse occurs, and in fact many abusers rely on that love to conceal and even continue the abuse.

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Bruce Willis Caters Meals for Firefighters Battling Idaho Wildfires

ICYMI, half of my home state of Washington, as well as our neighboring state of Idaho, has been or is currently on fire.

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News Flash: The Catholic Church Says Domestic Violence Is Your Fault

He characterized the "serious problem" with domestic violence as a failure by the couples to have "a true marriage" and attacked the politicians who support what he termed "quickie divorces" (you know, the ones that save battered women's lives).

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Just eat it.

In Defense of Letting Your Kids Eat Halloween Candy Until They Puke

We live in the over-information age, and food is no exception. It's not enough to simply eat "healthy" anymore — everything from how our food is produced and manufactured to its genetic makeup comes under constant scrutiny, and it's nearly impossible to suss out what really matters. The food we eat has become a moral and ethical choice, with a heaping serving of shame, too.

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Image via Sesame Street

Why It Matters That Sesame Street's First Muppet With Autism Is A Girl

It took five years for my daughter to be diagnosed with autism. There were dozens of red flags, beginning from the time she was about 10 months old, but her pediatrician always told me that she was fine. "She made eye contact with me," she reassured me. "She can't be on the spectrum." Besides, most children with autism, she reminded me, are boys.

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Bernie being Bernie.

Bernie Sanders Thinks Women Should Stay Home With Their Babies

Let me repeat that, just in case you missed it. Bernie Sanders said that a mother "should stay home" with her baby. When I first heard that sentence, I looked at my teenagers, and began yelling, "Mothers?! Should?!" My oldest son, who is 17 now, shrugged and replied, "Well, they should stay home with their babies, right? I mean, isn't that a good thing?"

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All I leanred divorcing a narcissist.

8 Mistakes I Made Divorcing A Narcissist — And How To Avoid Them

As the relationship ends, when divorcing a narcissist, you are no longer useful to them, and they no longer feel any obligation to treat you civilly.

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Image: Wikipedia

The Problem With Giving Your Kids Experiences Instead Of Gifts

Advertisers don't encourage us to believe that our kids need to make memories more than another toy to wage war on capitalism; they do it because these experience gifts support incredibly successful industries. When we shift our dollars from toys to travel, for instance, we are still supporting big business.

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Rachel and her family

What Rachel Dolezal Teaches Us About Mental Illness

What initially broke as a story of possibly fraudulent misrepresentation by a public figure quickly morphed into the downfall of a highly disturbed and probably mentally ill woman.

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