“You can’t have it all.” That’s something I’ve heard over and over again. I can hear one of my best friends saying it to me, almost scoldingly, when we were in high school and I wanted to study yet another language, and swim, and travel,
We started reading your articles around November 2019 when I was just pregnant with our first and feeling incredibly overwhelmed with the task ahead of us - your articles really helped in feeling OK with not always knowing what to do, and knowing that we were not the only ones!
I never reply to a general newsletter email! But yours was/is very special and too difficult to not respond to. You write in such a unique way which feels very personal and genuine, this I wanted to let you know. I am so looking forward to reading more of your writings. It is very intriguing for me as a mother and especially as a mother raising my daughter in a foreign context.
I am so grateful for Irene Caselli's work in The First 1,000 Days. Not only has it made me a better parent, I feel a deeper sense of empathy for myself and others as I better understand where we're all coming from.
We started reading your articles around November 2019 when I was just pregnant with our first and feeling incredibly overwhelmed with the task ahead of us - your articles really helped in feeling OK with not always knowing what to do, and knowing that we were not the only ones!
I never reply to a general newsletter email! But yours was/is very special and too difficult to not respond to. You write in such a unique way which feels very personal and genuine, this I wanted to let you know. I am so looking forward to reading more of your writings. It is very intriguing for me as a mother and especially as a mother raising my daughter in a foreign context.
I am so grateful for Irene Caselli's work in The First 1,000 Days. Not only has it made me a better parent, I feel a deeper sense of empathy for myself and others as I better understand where we're all coming from.
Activists and legal experts from around the world shared their work on reproductive rights, and how we can best understand one another on divisive issues.
2020 has been a trying year for parents, with many struggling to arrange a schedule for schooling and playtime. The good news: play doesn’t need to be planned – and it shouldn’t be. On World Children’s Day, it’s the perfect time to remember and value the importance of play.
I was starting to like 2020. After a slow start, a major change of plans because of coronavirus, a long and difficult lockdown, I felt that my family and I had taken all the possible steps to be better prepared for what was to come
I’m writing this newsletter after being awake most of the night. My son was in pain. He cried and cried. He would only settle in my arms while I walked around. He refused his father’s arms and kept calling for me. I think that even
I’ve been breastfeeding every day for the past 20 months, since my son Lorenzo was born, for many hours a day. So you’d assume that I’d already done all the necessary thinking around this very foundational experience: after all, human milk is the first food we
Breastfeeding is misunderstood. It may be natural, but that does not make it easy, spontaneous or free. If we want to make policies that respect breastfeeding, we can start by debunking these six myths.
Hey folks, I can write! For those of you who are new to this space, thanks for being here. The idea is that on a weekly basis I tell you what is happening behind the scenes of my journalistic work, I talk about what I
*Warning: This newsletter is about stillbirths, miscarriages and abortion. If you’ve experienced them and find this issue triggering, maybe skip it, and check out this website for some extra resources. It’s hard to imagine death when you think of the beginning of life. It seems cruel,
“mamma mamma mamma mamá” On repeat and growingly dramatic. This is what my son Lorenzo does to get my attention these days, or how he looks for me when he suspects I’m hiding away in the house and working. It’s not dissimilar from this Family
I’ve just come back from a trip to Gethen – a cold place, with beautiful glaciers and a society of people that are devoid of sex and gender for most of the time. They are simply *people*, undefined by what they have in between their legs
The boy was two years old when his mother disappeared from his life. Struggling to recover from the birth of a younger son, she constantly went in and out of hospital. Without her, the boy relied on his eldest sister, 12 at the time, who
It’s time to lay it all out, folks. I will confess: sometimes, when my son Lorenzo picks up his copy of The Gruffalo to hear me read it out loud while he plays with the animals that appear in it (he owns a stuffed toy
Let me tell you a secret about a rather useless skill I have: I have an incredible memory for people’s birthdays! You tell me the date, and somehow it just sticks to my internal hard drive. This includes people I haven’t seen since middle school.
Tzitzitzitzitzitzi Tzi Tzi Tzi Tzi Tzi Tzi The continuous sound of cicadas invades my ears. It goes on and on. All day long. And even at night, when the full moon tricks the cicadas into thinking it’s daylight. In Greek a cicada is called tzitzikas
I’m just back from my two-week staycation, during which I ate well, tried to exercise regularly, and dreamt a lot. One night I dreamt that I was at a work meeting. We were in an outside space where everyone was chit-chatting. All of a sudden,
The truth of today’s newsletter is that I was writing about someone dear to me who died last month. But then I stopped because life got in the way. First, the Beirut blast. For a month now, my family and I have been living in
This week, I’m exhausted. I could blame it on the summer heat, or on my son’s sleepless night because he’s teething. But that is not the kind of structural thinking that I’ve been encouraged to do here at The Correspondent. As our founder Rob Wijnberg
In a time that now seems incredibly far away, a time that my colleague OluTimehin Adegbeye calls 2020 BC (before corona), I co-hosted a meet-up with members of The Correspondent in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was February, and little did I know that it would be
I’m writing this in my head as I breastfeed my son to sleep – hoping that I will remember these words once I’m done. Breastfeeding has become a part of my everyday life since Lorenzo was born 17 months ago. It has caused pain, insecurity, frustration,
From added insulation on cold days to extra antibodies during illness, breast milk is customised for every baby. If science will just tell us how, we could argue less about formula and breast pumps.
The first 1,000 days of life shape every day that follows.
We need to know more about them.
A beat by Irene Caselli
Latest in your inbox
Why women can have it all
“You can’t have it all.” That’s something I’ve heard over and over again. I can hear one of my best friends saying it to me, almost scoldingly, when we were in high school and I wanted to study yet another language, and swim, and travel,
Forever in the archive
Listen, love and educate: here’s how to talk about our toughest issues (like abortion)
Activists and legal experts from around the world shared their work on reproductive rights, and how we can best understand one another on divisive issues.
Dear parents, stop organising your kids’ playtime
2020 has been a trying year for parents, with many struggling to arrange a schedule for schooling and playtime. The good news: play doesn’t need to be planned – and it shouldn’t be. On World Children’s Day, it’s the perfect time to remember and value the importance of play.
What I learned about handling 2020 from the tortoise who chose a different path
I was starting to like 2020. After a slow start, a major change of plans because of coronavirus, a long and difficult lockdown, I felt that my family and I had taken all the possible steps to be better prepared for what was to come
The importance of care and empathy
I’m writing this newsletter after being awake most of the night. My son was in pain. He cried and cried. He would only settle in my arms while I walked around. He refused his father’s arms and kept calling for me. I think that even
Breast is best for me, not for you: how you changed my thinking around breastfeeding
I’ve been breastfeeding every day for the past 20 months, since my son Lorenzo was born, for many hours a day. So you’d assume that I’d already done all the necessary thinking around this very foundational experience: after all, human milk is the first food we
Breast milk is free (and five other myths about breastfeeding debunked)
Breastfeeding is misunderstood. It may be natural, but that does not make it easy, spontaneous or free. If we want to make policies that respect breastfeeding, we can start by debunking these six myths.
The creative process vs productivity
Hey folks, I can write! For those of you who are new to this space, thanks for being here. The idea is that on a weekly basis I tell you what is happening behind the scenes of my journalistic work, I talk about what I
This is a hard newsletter to write
*Warning: This newsletter is about stillbirths, miscarriages and abortion. If you’ve experienced them and find this issue triggering, maybe skip it, and check out this website for some extra resources. It’s hard to imagine death when you think of the beginning of life. It seems cruel,
Clean shits on my bed (and other communication struggles)
“mamma mamma mamma mamá” On repeat and growingly dramatic. This is what my son Lorenzo does to get my attention these days, or how he looks for me when he suspects I’m hiding away in the house and working. It’s not dissimilar from this Family
If the sex you’re born with affects how you’re treated, I don’t stand by it
I’ve just come back from a trip to Gethen – a cold place, with beautiful glaciers and a society of people that are devoid of sex and gender for most of the time. They are simply *people*, undefined by what they have in between their legs
Forever in the archive:
Everybody was a child once. Remember that when they turn into your political foes (or worse)
The boy was two years old when his mother disappeared from his life. Struggling to recover from the birth of a younger son, she constantly went in and out of hospital. Without her, the boy relied on his eldest sister, 12 at the time, who
So, what if you find play boring?
It’s time to lay it all out, folks. I will confess: sometimes, when my son Lorenzo picks up his copy of The Gruffalo to hear me read it out loud while he plays with the animals that appear in it (he owns a stuffed toy
My one-year review of myself
Let me tell you a secret about a rather useless skill I have: I have an incredible memory for people’s birthdays! You tell me the date, and somehow it just sticks to my internal hard drive. This includes people I haven’t seen since middle school.
Greek cicadas and children: a lesson on listening
Tzitzitzitzitzitzi Tzi Tzi Tzi Tzi Tzi Tzi The continuous sound of cicadas invades my ears. It goes on and on. All day long. And even at night, when the full moon tricks the cicadas into thinking it’s daylight. In Greek a cicada is called tzitzikas
Lost in motherhood
I’m just back from my two-week staycation, during which I ate well, tried to exercise regularly, and dreamt a lot. One night I dreamt that I was at a work meeting. We were in an outside space where everyone was chit-chatting. All of a sudden,
Sometimes when you lose a person, you get lost too
The truth of today’s newsletter is that I was writing about someone dear to me who died last month. But then I stopped because life got in the way. First, the Beirut blast. For a month now, my family and I have been living in
Due to patriarchy …
This week, I’m exhausted. I could blame it on the summer heat, or on my son’s sleepless night because he’s teething. But that is not the kind of structural thinking that I’ve been encouraged to do here at The Correspondent. As our founder Rob Wijnberg
Why do we decide to have, or not have, children?
In a time that now seems incredibly far away, a time that my colleague OluTimehin Adegbeye calls 2020 BC (before corona), I co-hosted a meet-up with members of The Correspondent in Buenos Aires, Argentina. It was February, and little did I know that it would be
Human milk is amazing. I’m on a mission to find out more about it
I’m writing this in my head as I breastfeed my son to sleep – hoping that I will remember these words once I’m done. Breastfeeding has become a part of my everyday life since Lorenzo was born 17 months ago. It has caused pain, insecurity, frustration,
Human milk is the first intelligent superfood. We need to know the science of this medicinal marvel
From added insulation on cold days to extra antibodies during illness, breast milk is customised for every baby. If science will just tell us how, we could argue less about formula and breast pumps.
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