Quotes from Stephanie Land

Since Mia, my eldest, was born, we've been through the gamut of shelters, transitional housing and even living in a camper in a driveway.

If parents know how many times others are finding lice on their kids' heads, maybe other parents will not hide their own discoveries in shame.

I'd worn the same Carhartts and hoodies for years, and only bought clothes when the ones I had tore too many holes.

If we can somehow start to remove shame from struggle, if we can truly see people and care for them as our fellow human beings, we'll start to see how many of us are also fighting in our own way.

Having the ability to walk to the grocery store, ride my bike miles away to a friend's house, and spend most of the day unsupervised gave me confidence in myself. But I don't give my daughter that same freedom, and I never have, because I fear the possible repercussions.

I think especially in academia, we are coached to go the route of paying to submit our writing to small publications, like the presses and the quarterly reviews and all of these that are considered 'prestigious.' As a writer in a college program, that's the route that you're taught to go.

As a poor person and someone who now writes extensively about social and economic justice, I've often noticed a lack of a focus on poverty appearing in news cycles or in debates among White House contenders.

I signed my first book contract without paying much attention to what it said. I didn't know at the time that the book would be a best seller or that it would one day inspire a Netflix series. I just needed the money.

I think having an infant causes a bit of an identity crisis.

As a single mom, I barely had time to get to know and date one person.

Single parents do not have the luxury of purchasing an abundance of healthy foods for their kids to try. I know this. As a single mom, I've been there.

Cleaning companies often pay their employees less than a living wage and offer no sick days or health insurance. My years of working for them still made me grimace every time I saw a little yellow car with 'Merry Maids' written on the side.

My life as a mother had been one of skipping meals, always saving the 'good' food, like fresh fruit, for the kids I told myself deserved it more than I did.

Dating as a single parent is tricky. My kids are usually seen less as a 'bonus' and more as a 'situation.'

In the world of Tinder and Bumble, where people keep up the appearance that they are low-key, lacking in any drama and partaking in an Instagram-worthy activity during every free moment between trips overseas, admitting you work from home and have small children orbiting you full-time feels like a drag.

Tinder makes it obvious that I'm not alone in being single and that there are plenty of single parents looking for a partner. A date not having the potential I'd hoped for is no longer a tragedy, and suddenly dating is fun again. I no longer feel pressured. I trust that someone, eventually, will like me for me.

Being a single mom, I fought my way through living in poverty, feeling like I wasn't ever enough, feeling an annoying tug that we as a family possibly weren't complete.

My second daughter's birth stopped time. My world lost its momentum in revolving towards goals and dreams.

Employers don't want to hire single moms with kids, because if the kid's sick then they can't work, and it goes on and on and on. It's really incredibly difficult to find a job in that situation.

I worked as a housecleaner through college, but I never considered going through the motions of doing it full-time.

My mom grew up in extreme poverty, and always spoke of it with a look of disgust. She felt pressured to fit in, and felt shame about her house, clothes, and general appearance.

I see my self-identity in the same way I see most things: a list, in greatest to least importance. I've found I can't use the multitude of hats analogy or some kind of flow chart where circles are connected by lines and entwined in Venn diagrams. I need a list. I need a top shelf.

Remember The Nothing? It was a gigantic, black storm from 'The Neverending Story' that fed on fear and doubt and sadness and hate and uncertainty and didn't stop until everything was gone. That is what Trump feels like to me.

If every parent knew that the best way to prevent lice from spreading is by looking for them, cases decrease dramatically.