Acknowledgments

First and foremost, I want to acknowledge all the parenting Teaching and Learning Center fellows: those I have had the pleasure of working with and those I never met, but whose time as fellows had profound ripple effects that made this collection possible. All of my colleagues at the TLC have shaped me as a teacher, academic, and parent, and I am incredibly grateful to have learned from them. While each cohort over the years has been special, I am particularly grateful for the current cohort, who provided peer review, grant writing, moral support, and even funds from their own projects to support this one. I am also thankful for Luke Waltzer’s leadership at the TLC and the support he and Laurie Hurson provide fellows, as well as the generous gift from the Charina Foundation that supported this work.

To say I am thankful for the contributors in this collection would not reflect the depth and variety of feelings I experienced while working with them. Their insights have enriched my parenting and pedagogy and I am so excited for others to engage with their work. I also want to take a moment to thank their families for the ways they inspired the reflections and all of the sacrifices they made so this collection could happen. Additionally, thank you to Patrick DeDauw, whose copyediting support and expertise with Manifold made what could have been the most hectic part of the project a breeze.

Finally, I want to thank my family. I hope one day that this collection helps my daughter, Brooke, understand how my love for teaching shaped, in part, who I am as her mother. And none of this would be possible without my husband, Scott. From swapping bath duty nights, to helping me not spiral when I lost a draft of the introduction, his commitment to being a father and husband played a crucial role in bringing this collection to life. His support has been essential to navigating the challenges and setbacks of academia, as well as every new stage of parenthood. His care for our daughter, the way he fosters her ever-expanding sense of wonder, and the reliability with which he finds new and fun things to do with her are inspiring beyond words. His partnership is why I have made it this far in my program and, most importantly, why I love being a mom.