I write to generate insight, compassion, and action — always through the lenses of chronic illness, social justice, parenthood, transracial adoption, liberation theology, and alternative education. An award-winning essayist, I have been published at New York Magazine, The New York Times, The Establishment and Scary Mommy.
Here are some links to pieces I have written for various sites, plus some of my most popular pieces on Mommy Means It:
Personal Essays:
- Watching My Daughter Develop the Same Anxiety I Struggle With at New York Magazine: The Science of Us; re-printed in The Huffington Post (here)
- 10 Things My Chronic Illness Has Taught My Children at The New York Times: Disability
- The Day My Father Shot My Mother at The Establishment
- How A Stranger At Target Kept Me From Coming Undone at Scary Mommy
- On My Mom, The Sex She Had, and The Adoption She Didn’t Plan at Mommy Means It
- Cancer and the New Normal at Mommy Means It
Parenting and Adoption:
- 10 Things My Chronic Illness Has Taught My Children at The New York Times: Disability
- The Lesson I Learned That Time I Mooned the AME Church at Mommy Means It
- Pushing Children: Lessons From Chronic Pain at Almost Fearless
- The Truth About Breastfeeding With Big Breasts at Mommy Means It
- What Adoption Classes Didn’t Teach Us About Raising Black Children at Scary Mommy
- Talking Alton and Philando With My Newly Driving Black Teen at Scary Mommy
- God in Adoption at Mommy Means It
- 20 Things I Wish I Had Known Before Adopting, originally at Mommy Means It and re-published at Scary Mommy
- The Hardest New Year’s Resolution I Have Ever Made: Stop Parenting From Fear, re-write at Mommy Means It
- How to be a Good Friend to a Parent of a Child Who Has Been Through Trauma at Mommy Means It
Social Issues/Political:
- How My Abusive Father Helped Me Understand Trump Supporters at The Establishment
- The Neurological Effects of Telling Victims to Love Their Abusers, Oppressors, and Perpetrators at Mommy Means It
- Racism Within the Transracial Adoption Community at Mommy Means It
- When My Daughter Asked, “Why Are People Voting For Trump?” at The Salt Collective
Health and Self-Care:
- 10 Things My Chronic Illness Has Taught My Children at The New York Times: Disability
- Medical Marijuana Manages My Chronic Illness (And Makes Me A Better Mom) at Scary Mommy
- The Neurological Effects of Telling Victims to Love Their Abusers, Oppressors, and Perpetrators at Mommy Means It
- The Truth About Breast Feeding With Big Breasts at Mommy Means It
- How to be a Good Friend to a Parent of a Child Who Has Been Through Trauma at Mommy Means It
- Cancer and The New Normal at Mommy Means It
- Parenting After Abuse at Mommy Means It
- Pushing Children: Lessons From Chronic Pain at Almost Fearless
Education:
Instructional Parenting:
- 5 Tips To Prepare For Parenting Teens NOW at Scary Mommy
- On Teens and Smart Phones at Brilliant Star Magazine
- Raising a Young Musician at Brilliant Star Magazine
- Virtual Cultural Immersion: How to Travel the World Without Leaving Town at Brilliant Star Magazine
You can find my portfolio here.
Paula M. Fitzgibbons
mommymeansit@gmail.com
