It’s no secret that we ALL want to be the best mothers we can be for our children. And it’s no surprise why! Aside from simply loving our babies and wanting to do everything in our power to give them the best lives possible, this desire to be the “perfect mom” is CONSTANTLY reinforced by both subliminal and not-so-subtle societal

A few months ago, while I was scrolling through work emails on my phone, I looked over to see my toddler walking in circles around our kitchen counter while yammering away on her plastic cell phone. She then sent a few texts to Elmo and checked her emails because she was in the “tree business” and had a lot of

I am a “make lists, stick to the routine, and read a million parenting books” type of mom. I have a plan for everything. As the primary caregiver of our kids, I am used to having control (and I like being in control). This unfortunately has turned me into the parent who thinks I have all the answers, or at

I am a COVID-era mom. I had both my children during the pandemic, which pretty much means I avoided social interactions with other moms for the better part of two years. As an introvert with a touch of social anxiety, this might not have been the best thing for me. It was just the excuse I needed to not put

When I was newly pregnant with my first child, a colleague of mine had just returned to work from maternity leave. I got an email from her requesting that I cover the last 30 minutes of one of her classes that coincided with my planning period for the remainder of the school year so that she could go to the

I start most days feeling like I have a clean slate and am armed with a plan for what the “perfect” day will look like for me as a parent. I am confident, calm, and ready for what the day brings. And then inevitably things don’t go to plan. I react to situations in less than perfect ways, as my

The lack of federally mandated, paid family leave has long been a pain point in the lives of American workers. The United States, which lags far behind other industrialized nations in this respect, is one of few countries that still fails to provide working families with guaranteed paid leave for postpartum mothers and other caregivers. Other countries in this category

When my pregnancy test turned positive, I had a moment of absolute excitement and joy quickly followed by the realization that I was going to have to birth a baby. I wasn’t even that worried about how to actually parent (which I should have been) but rather was much more consumed with the daunting process of getting this little person

By the time I got those two pink lines on a stick last summer, my daughter had already been asking us for a sibling for years. My first thought (after, of course, “Holy cow, is this really happening?”) was, “My baby is about to become a big sister.” Even now, at 8-months-pregnant, her elation has not died down. If anything,

“I think it went really well!” I told my husband excitedly as I wiggled out of my blazer, which was now definitely too snug on my third-trimester body.  “Did they say when to expect a call back?” he asked, with noticeable caution in his voice. We had been having this conversation for months already. It would start with me excitedly