From Slate's Hear Me Out podcast: … stop with the breakfast-in-bed.

As we reflect on the summertime season of parenting holidays in the U.S. — Mother’s Day in May and Father’s Day in June — it’s worth remembering that these holidays’ histories are deeply political… not unlike parenting itself.

Parenting is complicated, now more so than ever. In the best of circumstances, it’s a two-way relationship with a person who didn’t ask to be here. So what can we expect from our children?

Gabrielle Blair, founder of DesignMom.com and author of Ejaculate Responsibly, joins us to make the case that kids aren’t bound by blood to do, or be, anything.

If you have thoughts you want to share, or an idea for a topic we should tackle, you can now email the show: hearmeout@slate.com

Podcast production by Maura Currie

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