“Parenting, Barbershop-style” by Nkosi Ife Bandele

First of all, lemme say that Big Ted’s my man. He always gives me a tight cut, and he’s cool, you know, funny. Got that educated-like slang. (Apparently he did a lot of reading in the joint . . .)

“What Mothers Do” by Bill Butler

As a five-year-old, I didn’t know how poor we were. We had just moved to Manhattan and knew no one in the city . . .

“The Playdate” by Kathleen McElligott

Desperate for adult conversation, I volunteer as a room mom. I’m teamed up with Victoria, whose twins are Drew and Cameron. Victoria’s high maintenance, but she’s fine with the fact that Deshy has two mommies.

Victoria asks if the twins can come over for a playdate while she shops for the day. Deshy has been to their house—now it’s our turn. He’s not thrilled when I tell him . . .