1.5k
  March 18, 2019

When kids are not our "mini me": accepting your children as they are

When you become a parent, I think it's natural to have expectations and preconceived ideas of what the little person you have created is going to be like. Imagining the future and what that could look like is perfectly natural. But as they grow, you begin to see them become this little person who is unique and special in their own ways. At that point, you should let go of the ideas and expectations you had in your mind at the beginning…

1.1k
  February 11, 2019

I took my daughter to therapy with me

I try to speak openly about my battle with depression, and it is the time of year where I tend to be at my worst. This season is no different, and the last few weeks have been a struggle to accomplish my day-to-day tasks. Still, even with my attempts to be open and unashamed of my mental health, it was hard to bring my daughter to therapy with me. I never had the intention of bringing her. However, I had my usual therapy session scheduled on one of her approximately 148 snow days this year. My first thought was to cancel the session, but I realized the only reason I was going to do this was some ambiguous sense of discomfort…

1.2k
  10 Comments September 6, 2018

How do I know if I want a baby or just want to experience pregnancy?

I am 28 and I am in a serious relationship and I have the strong urge to have a baby. However, like this woman, I feel I am more interested in the feeling of being pregnant and giving birth than actually being a parent.

I am actually afraid I won't be a good parent at all because I won't be able to cope with the responsibility. But I ask myself, how does this make sense with my current, very raw urge to be pregnant?

  10 Comments August 21, 2018

A mom's mental load: embracing and forgiving my forgetfulness

I've been thinking a lot about forgetfulness and mental load. I had a boss at work who constantly referred to freeing up your "psychic space" as often as possible. Much like defragmenting your computer in order to free up memory. I have always been considered "forgetful" — even before I had a baby. During pregnancy, I had the luxury of blaming things on "baby brain." Now that my daughter is crawling, my ability to keep up with everything in my brain seems exponentially worse.

Here are some of the more serious things I've forgotten this past month…
  July 9, 2018

A love letter to my postpartum angel, my sister

I never had much of a meaning for the term "angel" until my sister arrived in my bedroom at five in the morning after a seven-hour drive to be by my side right after I had just given birth for the first time. I felt guilty for pulling the alarm, but I was scared and confused and anxious — and she got it. She has two kids of her own, a partner, and a crazy work schedule… but she was there.