The Black Sheep of the Family (And Why It Might Be Your Superpower)
Disclaimer: This piece is based on my personal experience of what it felt like to be the black sheep in my family system. It’s not about blaming anyone. It’s about exploring the emotional impact of feeling unseen, misunderstood, and out of place—and what healing...
Maladaptive Behaviors – Living Better with Challenges
Parenting a neurodivergent child can feel like walking through a storm with no clear direction—every step met with resistance, every day a new battle. You try to follow the advice you’ve been given: be consistent, set boundaries, enforce consequences. But what happens...
The Stay-At-Home-Mom Myth: A Lie That’s Working Women to Death
Circa 2010, standing at the photocopier and seven months pregnant, I proclaimed to my older, wiser colleague that I was excited to be a stay-at-home-mom to my baby for a year. Time for leisurely walks, a clean house, and healthy meals ready for my husband at his...
Youth Mental Health – Fighting Together
Do you ever feel like the mainstream conversation around youth mental health misses the mark? Mental health has become a bit of a cultural cliché in some circles because of how frequently it’s discussed in mainstream culture, often in oversimplified or...
Cleaning House – Dirty Dishes and Dusty Floors
I Have A Dream Pristine, swept floors – floors which seem to go for miles as your eyes trace the interlocking wood planks down to the bay windows on the other side of the house. The smell of baking. A garden, pruned and detailed. Weeded meticulously. Counter tops that...
When It’s Time to Recharge
Always Someday Before kids, I always thought that there would be a time for writing. Somewhere off on the horizon when I was done with the all-consuming (life sucking?) office job, when I caught up on things and organized my life. The funniest of my delusions included...
No Rest for the Christmas Machine
Every Year, I Try to Muster the Courage to Take On the Christmas Season With A Smile. I don’t consider myself to be characteristically negative, but I am sure that Christmas was designed specifically to upset the delicate balance that my family has worked so hard to...
Socially Inept
I’m getting to that age now where bad things are starting to happen to the good people in my life. Friends are enduring infidelity, divorce, death of spouses and parents – and I’m over here feeling like I should have my super-friend badge revoked for...
Postpartum Depression – What I Wish I’d Been Told
New mothers everywhere are being talked to about postpartum depression (PPD) at every government-run meeting. We are told ad nauseum to watch ourselves for signs of sadness that doesn’t dissipate beyond the baby blues. We are given stats and shown charts, but for a...
Beyond the ADHD Clinic: The Daily Struggles of Parenting ADHD
Early in my days as a new parent, my son’s pediatrician looked up at me while I complained of feelings of guilt for some marginal oversight. “Now that you’re a mother, you will come to understand that everything is your fault,” she said. Truer words have never been...About the Neurotic Exotic
Deana is a West Coast freelance writer. She has a business background, but traded it all in for babies, diapers and pharmaceuticals. Born of a composed Canadian mother, and fiery (read: perfectly neurotic) European father, the Neurotic Exotic platform lends itself to highlighting the joys of domesticity and simple pleasures amid the craziness of today.