The Early Years of Parenting

It's been a long time since I have blogged. About 10 years to be exact. I started my original

blog, The Time of Our Lives, when my children were babies. I wrote about the struggles of being a stay 

at home mom, the loneliness I felt before I met other SAHMs, about losing your body and heart to 

your children from the second you found out you were pregnant, and about losing the person you were 

before you became a parent.

The constant questions/opinions  I would receive from people about nursing vs. formula feeding, co-

sleeping or crib sleeping, cloth or regular diapers, would I be a stay at home mom or send them to a 

day care? Which day care? What type of memories would you create for your children if they were 

staying at home with you full time? The judgment I (we all) received from parents, especially from 

other mothers shocked me to my core, even to this day. 

I talked about how hard it must be to be a working mom; not being able to see your children as much,

between unpacking and packing lunches, making dinner, bath time, cuddle time and an early

bedtime for them (and you!). Being exhausted every. single. day. and getting up and having to do it all. 

over. again. 

I talked about how hard it was to be a stay at home mom, having no help or breaks during the day,

losing your body and mind to them completely 24 hours per day. And crying about the number of time a

day I would yell at them from frustration and exhaustion. 

I spoke about how horrible it was to compare one another as moms, when we were just trying to

do our best. We were in survival mode. And survival mode is exhausting. We snap, we cry, we think 

we're fucking everything up. We miss our old selves and our old worlds. And yet.....It's the most 

incredible thing we've ever done. My two girls are the best gifts I could possible offer to this world. 

Looking back, it really bums me out how much we lack education/support for young families and 

mothers that are trying to navigate going from being a couple to becoming a family, and what 

an exciting but traumatic experience it can be to become parents.

I have so many thoughts from the last 10 years that I haven't had time or even known that I've wanted 

to put into words. As I have been working through some painful emotional growth, a dear friend of

mine, Jules, suggested that it might be helpful to process the trauma and the good times that have

happened over the past 10 years.

I have no judgment for any parent out there trying the very best you can, with the tools and

knowledge you have. While also knowing that years from now, you may look back and see the ways in 

which you could have done better, based on the knowledge you now have. And I hope that you are able 

to do the same with me, and the stories I share.