Issue # 13 we almost bought a crib When Saad and I took a baby class near the end of my pregnancy, we ended up in a group of 10 couples. That group became our unofficial cohort; a bunch of new parents all stumbling through the same season at the same time. It’s been nice. We get together about once a month, share stories, swap updates, laugh about the chaos. We have a group chat where we share things too. Over time, it’s also shown me how many different ways there are to raise a kid. We’ve...
10 days ago • 1 min read
Issue # 12 it's not always linear My son has been teething since he was 4.5 months old.Early. Intense. Nonstop. We’re currently working on his 9th and 10th teeth, the upper canines, which usually don’t show up until well past the one-year mark. So it makes sense that so much of his little body’s energy is going into that. It doesn’t mean he’s not growing in other ways. But it’s been… a lot. And he’s nearly 8 months now, but hasn’t figured out any kind of crawling. He’ll reach for a toy and...
17 days ago • 1 min read
Issue # 11 ambition, meet reality Before I became a mom, I thought I could do it all. Not in a cliche girlboss, hustle kind of way. Just in a me kind of way. I thought I could be a present, gentle parent. Work part time. Build a side hustle. Keep the house running. Eat mostly healthy. Move my body again. See people sometimes. Sleep enough. Give myself some me-time. Give my partner some us-time. Give my family time. When I write it out like that, it’s almost funny. I can see how impossible...
24 days ago • 2 min read
Issue # 10 still becoming I miss my old life. All of it. There wasn’t anything I wanted to change. I was thriving. I had a great partner, a home I loved, creativity, professional success, freedom. I felt steady. Full. Like I had grown into the version of myself I’d been building for years. And then... motherhood. Now I’m someone else. Or I’m becoming someone else. I don’t know yet. What I do know is that I’m not who I was, and I don’t yet feel fully at home in who I am now. It’s not exactly...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Issue # 8 growing, together My kid is signing back. I can't explain the excitement I feel. We’ve been signing to him since he was three months old, and now, at seven months, he signs for milk!!!! And it is, honestly, incredible. Watching him go from a sleepy, snuggly potato to someone who grabs things, drinks on his own, makes decisions, and now communicates? It’s wild. It’s joyful. It feels like we’re getting to know each other in a new way. I’m not just guessing what he needs anymore. He’s...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
Issue # 8 Give me space, but stay close too. My kid is asleep in his own room right now, yes, right now, as I type this on my phone. It’s something I wanted. A little more space, a quieter night, a chance to reclaim my own bed. But now that it’s happening, I'm glued to the baby monitor. Is he breathing? Is he okay? Is he silently crying and somehow the monitor didn’t pick it up? (It always does, but my mind spirals anyway.) I check, and recheck. I tell myself he’s fine, I have to literally...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Issue # 7 both things are true Lately, I’ve been feeling touched out. I never understood the phrase until this week. This feeling of having zero personal space because your kid wants to be in contact with you physically, all the time. I’m overstimulated, over-touched, and tired of the constant, whiny hum of a baby who gets bored faster than I can switch activities. The clinginess, the squirming, the endless need for newness, grates on me sometimes. It’s like my nervous system can’t stretch...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Issue # 6 the freedom to not upgrade Lately, I’ve been reflecting on the concept of lifestyle inflation, the idea that as your income goes up, so do your expenses. A slightly bigger home, more takeout, nicer tech, shinier subscriptions. Nothing wrong with any of that. But it adds up, quietly and quickly. And before you know it, the baseline cost of your life is so high that it becomes harder and harder to buy the one thing that actually feels scarce: time. I’m so grateful my spouse and I...
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Issue # 5 A day in the life of a full time parent Come Spend the Day With Us Some days I’m the one with a day off, and other days, my spouse gets the break. A couple Saturdays ago, was one of those parenting days for me—me holding the shape of our son’s day so my partner could have some breathing room, some time for himself. Morning It started slowly. I’d been up late the night before, so my spouse took a brief morning shift: got our son from his bassinet, did a Tim’s run for some coffee and...
2 months ago • 3 min read
