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 and son playing on the beach

Our family has been apart for 13 weeks—here’s what we learned about parenting

Thirteen weeks since I've held my husband's hand. Thirteen weeks since our daughter has hugged her father.

two siblings reading a book together

Thank you to my little ones for being patient with me

I am asking them to not be scared or worried about the virus, even though I am every single day.

little boy coloring

I’m sending my toddler to daycare for the first time—but I’m not ready

The idea of my son being outside the safety of our house—and isolation—is giving me so much anxiety.

mom doing skin-to-skin with baby

My birth story: Life and loss in one pregnancy

Our maternal-fetal medicine doctor came in suddenly—and I knew that something was wrong.

mom playing with toddler

Let me stay home a little longer, he won’t be this little forever

I love knowing the majority of my time is with him. That when he asks me, "Mommy sit down with me," I can do it and not care about the pile of dishes

mom scrolling on her phone while holding a glass of wine

Please stop telling burned-out moms to ‘just have a glass of wine’

We're expected to do it all, and then a big glass of wine will make everything better—but we know this isn't true.

mom playing with daughter on the bed

Being a toddler mom is so much easier than a newborn mom

I love it because I get to see a glimpse of the person he will be.

mom playing with two kids

I’m not done having kids—and I think about my frozen embryos every day

I have two beautiful, healthy babies after infertility and I think about my nine remaining frozen embryos every single day.

dad reading book to a vhild while mom is stressed in the corner

I miss having personal space

My once quiet area, free of distraction and interruption, is now the communal space for all child activities.

mom holding baby looking out a window as a motherless mother - mamas without moms

To the mamas without moms this Mother’s Day

It's a lonely, raw, heart-wrenching kind of pain to be without her.

mom holding daughter next to a window

I miss saying yes

Parenting through a pandemic means So. Much. No.

mom working with child climbing on top of her

This is mothering in a pandemic

We are not meant to live in isolation.

family playing a game together

I am done living in crisis mode

I would obsess over news reports and death rates and the endless cycle of bad news. I decided—I can't live this way.

mom and son sitting on a bench - postpartum depression essay

Megan on persistently having to beg for help for postpartum depression

"I kept begging the nurse to tell me that I was OK. I kept saying over and over again, “I don’t feel alive. Am I alive?” The nurse kept asking me if I knew that I was repeating that over and over again. I didn’t care though. I didn’t feel like I was in my body. I was so detached from reality and the world around me..."

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