Motherly Stories - Essays About Being A Mom - Motherly
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Motherly Stories

Motherhood changes us. Celebrate the ups and downs with these honest, insightful essays about becoming—and being—a mom.

mom comforting upset daughter - gentle parenting

Gentle parenting is the only tool that works with my strong-willed child

We’re the soft cushion below them. When they need to unravel, they choose us.

mom hugging son - how to be graceful

How do I raise my kids to extend grace in today’s cancel culture?

How do I encourage my kids’ fire to fight injustice, yet also encourage them to see people as imperfect beings who are, for the most part, trying their best?

men discussing work at table - working dad

Dear employers of dads—it’s time to make a change

While we’ve made incredible strides in terms of how companies support working moms,  we are lagging in terms of how the corporate world supports and perceives working dads.

mom hugging daughter - being a mom is hard

Motherhood comes with challenges—at every stage

It doesn't matter your age. It doesn’t matter when you first became a mom or when you gave birth to your last. It doesn’t matter if you’re a mom of one or of many.

mom and daughter with foreheads pressed against each other eating ice cream

Being a mom hasn’t hurt my career—it helped

From being consistent to praising publicly, criticizing privately, here are the parenting and leadership rules that I (try to) live by.

mom and baby playing on bed - bonding with your baby

How to foster deeper connections with your baby

"Distractions are everywhere, and we often forget to ground ourselves before connecting with our baby so we can be fully present"

woman angry at iphone

Moms to Instagram: We want our friends and family back

"The news that Instagram (and, to a lesser extent, Facebook) is shifting away from a friends and family model to a content creator model had a lot of moms wondering, where in the world is my social network?"

mom and son playing on playground

I’m an antisocial mom raising a social kid

I hadn’t thought about how my homebody tendencies were keeping my son from building relationships and creating memories outside of our home, with other people. 

mom smilling at teen son

As a mom, sometimes the lasts mean more than the firsts

And I realize that many of these moments will be "lasts" very soon, so I cherish them as if they are. 

woman laying in bed with hands over her head

Mama, it’s time to prioritize your needs—even over your kids’

“It doesn’t have to be like this. I’m tired of being so tired. We can take our power back.”

mom holding child

I want another baby, but I’m afraid I won’t be the mother they deserve

I’m afraid that I will lack understanding—and that even with the wisdom collected in becoming a mother for the first time, I will have so much to learn and unlearn in becoming a mother again.

woman texting on phone- mom friends

A love letter to the mom friends I always text—but rarely see

"I don't know how I'd endure motherhood without the hopeful, sarcastic, I-get-you, in-the-trenches of mom life texts."

woman in military uniform hugging child

My life as a military mom means I’ve spent months away from my babies

I have realized that I could be given the world (literally) for free as a "perk" of my job, and none of that would matter because it would mean leaving my children behind.

daughter kissing mom on beach

‘Follow the child’: How a Montessori mantra changed my motherhood

“It is the child’s way of learning. This is the path he follows. He learned everything without knowing he is learning it...treading always in the paths of joy and love.” — Maria Montessori 

couple kissing baby

To the husbands who step up as equal parents, thank you

Given this backdrop of such unequal parenting for so many women, it’s easy to overlook the men in our midst who are actually doing the work and stepping up as equal partners. And I am lucky enough to be married to one of them. 

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