Family Family Quotes

“Representation matters not just because it matters that you see yourself in the world but because it matters that you see yourself positively in the world. Representation matters because it matters that you see not-yourself---people who are unlike you, families that are unlike yours, possibilities you hadn't thought of yet---and it matters that you see not-yourself positively too.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“When people thought of mothers, they smelled cookies baking and chocolate melting. But actual mothers got shit for giving their kids too much sugar. When people thought of mothers, they thought soft and warm and cuddly. But actual mothers went to great lengths to eradicate their soft warm cuddly bits. When people thought of mothers, they thought of mama bears and cheerleaders–fierce love and unconditional support–but actual mothers were accused of coddling and helicoptering.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“It seemed to her that the people who had decided all birth mothers were regretful and unhappy and had been forced to do something they didn’t want to do were probably men.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“But she only wanted to scare Fig enough to ensure she'd never do anything like this again. Not scare her so much that she’d be retroactively traumatized by all she’d had the grace to avoid. If we had to worry about all our mothers’ fears, who among us would ever leave the house?”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“that were hard and heartbreaking but also chosen and even strived for. It seemed to her they often made tough decisions to let go, to lay down, in order to pick up something else because they knew—maybe in their bones, maybe having learned it again and again—that having all the things you wanted all at the same time was rarely on the table.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“Everything’s fine. Everything’s great. But you’re always aware that at any moment, with no warning at all and no way to head it off, you might have to throw clothes over your pajamas and head out into the night, scared out of your mind, to battle whatever demons have come. It’s always this serrated edge of scared for them and because of them, angry at them for getting into trouble and angry at whatever trouble had the audacity to get into it with your kids.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“Regardless of how they get made, family is a force to be reckoned with.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“families get formed in all sorts of ways, ways”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“But the other thing that came clear was this: it is awesome when dreams come true. And she had growing within her the true-making of someone else’s dreams.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“If we had to worry about all our mothers' fears, who among us would ever leave the house?”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“In the case of families, uncomplicated wasn’t really the goal anyway.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“This is what parenting is, India. Solving impossible-to-solve problems while also experiencing deep crises of faith while also being kind of annoyed while also never getting enough rest. These problems only ever go away by changing into different equally impossible problems. This is how it always is for all parents, no matter how you came by your children.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“India understood at last what it meant to be a parent. She had created this child, loved and nurtured it, coaxed its development, strengthened its heart, and ironed its core. Served as its center and also built her life around it. And now, now she had no choice but to send it into a cruel, unsafe world where she could neither control nor protect”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“She only wanted to scare Fig enough to ensure she'd never do anything like this again. Not scare her so much that she'd be retroactively traumatized by all she'd had the grace to avoid.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“If we have to worry about all our mother's fears. Who among us would ever leave the house?”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“They were tangled, not like extension cords you'd thrown in a pile... like fibres woven into threads... worn into heirlooms.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family

“Gone’ means gone. ‘Lost’ means given time you can figure it out, find your way, come out the other side.”
― Laurie Frankel, Family Family