I’m excited to have a piece on the new site Motherwell, edited by the talented Lauren Apfel and 
Randi Olin. I think Motherwell stands out from other sites about parenting, but you have to click through their articles to see why.
My essay, “Call Me Mrs. Badzin,” is about how I used to insist that other kids call me Nina, but as my kids (and their friends) are getting older I find myself preferring Mrs. Badzin.
There’s a poll at the end of the essay asking what other parents prefer. In my social circle almost all the adults go by their first names. It’s not like me to go so out of the way to be different, but that’s where I’ve landed. I’m Mrs. Badzin. Why?
See you at Motherwell for the full story!
The following two tabs change content below.
Nina Badzin hosts the top 1% podcast Dear Nina: Conversations About Friendship. She's been writing about friendship since 2014 and has had friendship advice in NPR, WSJ, Real Simple Magazine, The Daily Skim, The Guardian, The Telegraph UK, Time Magazine, and elsewhere.
Latest posts by Nina Badzin (see all)
- #216 – Are You Expecting Too Much From One Friend? - October 19, 2026
- #215 – When Your Child Gets Dropped From a Friend Group - October 12, 2026
- #214 – Are We Giving Up on Our Friends Too Quickly? - October 5, 2026
- #213 – Friendship “Flings,” Uneven Effort, and Being Stuck in the Middle - September 28, 2026
