Sifting through a year’s worth of posts to find a favorite one is hard. We covered a ton of topics this year, all of which I am rather proud of, as they’ve had a positive effect on me and how I parent as well. But for 2023, my favorite post is Coffee Chat: Dogs are like kids, right?
Continue readingChild(ish) Reads: MORE + Being Seen
“What we are teaches the child far more than what we say, so we must be what we want our children to become.”- Child development author Joseph Chilton Pearce, Teaching Children to Love
This post is actually part Child(ish) Read review and part Coffee Chat. I finally finished More: Life on the Edge of Adventure and Motherhood by Majka Burhardt. Burhardt is a Princeton graduate, a professional rock and ice climber, and a twin mom. The book spans her pregnancy through her kids’ fourth birthday, compiled from audio and journal entries over five years. The book started out as letters to her twins and morphed into book-form when she could see the overall message not only to her children, but to all moms.
Continue readingHoliday Mom Magic
Moms don’t en-joy, they give joy. That’s how being a mom works. – A Bad Moms Christmas
Thanksgiving starts a mad rush all the way through December. While we can’t speak for other religions and their traditions, Christmas has a chokehold on an entire month; bringing festivities, expectations, and Mariah Carey.
This onslaught includes: hours making and checking shopping lists, wrapping the gifts, sending out cards, decking the halls, baking the cookies, making the travel plans, and keeping the spirit of Christmas alive. And year after year, the person behind all of this isn’t Santa. It’s mom.
Why do we do this? Is it a rite of passage to level up as a mom? Is the expectation the same for dads? With a few weeks left before December 25th, let’s get to the bottom of this quandary and how we can alleviate this self-inflicted stress.
Continue readingCoffee Chat: Patti’s Thanksgiving Story
When Mary and I started talking about the holidays, I shared with her one of my particularly meh Thanksgivings. My parents divorced earlier than I can remember and I’ve been in a number of blended families growing up, making for some very awkward holidays to the say the least.
I had a Thanksgiving with my dad and grandmother where I was completely silent. I once spent the holiday with my mom and her friend who ended up being a hoarder. In 2008, I said I was thankful that Barack Obama was going to be president and an entire table of Boomer adults became unhinged. But in the story I’m sharing today, I am 20 and a junior at UF.
Continue readingHoliday Gift Guide 2023: Things We (Would) Love
To close out our gift guides for the season, we’re sharing the things we would love to receive because moms like gifties, too. In this whole holiday magic season, moms are at the helm. We’re driving this boat. So whether you need a link to forward to your partner or want to add these to your own shopping list to treat yourself, here are the things Mary and I would love.
Child(ish) Advice 