Motherhood
Happy Mother's Day
The legacy of motherhood reaches far beyond the blink of our years here on earth — a truth Walt Chantry captured beautifully, and one that reminds me of my own mom.
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All About Breastfeeding
Breastfeeding and postpartum mental health are deeply connected. When everything else went wrong after the birth of my first child, nursing proved an oasis.
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To Begin Again
The first day of school reveals a brand-new stage where unseen possibilities begin to dance. Parenthood is about dual-states — a constant embracing and letting go.
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One Cool Dad
A year after my dad's passing, I discovered old Army photos of a well-dressed dandy I barely recognized — and came to see the cool guy he was before parenthood shaped him into the alpha-male who built tank engines and made chicken soup.
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Postpartum Nightmares
Recurring nightmares are one of many under-covered topics in the postpartum world. A new Glamour article sheds light on why those terrifying images may actually signal a mother's deep bond with her baby.
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When Postpartum Packs a Punch Celebrates One Year; Gathers Wide Praise
My debut book marks one year at market, with libraries in 37 states, a TopShelf Indie Book Award nomination, and updated covers — a testament to the power of shared stories as a key to healing.
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Dads and Motherless Daughters
My dad has been Dad and Mom for almost three decades. Nothing breeds empathy for your parents like becoming one yourself.
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Pregnancy and Infant Loss: Grieving Well
Losing a baby is a tragedy that demands to be addressed. Grief is a lifelong process, but we have an amazing capacity for healing — to get stronger, rebuild, and help others along the way.
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Retroactive Grief
Watching friends send their children to college stirs a grief I didn't expect — mourning not just my mother, but the tears she never got to cry for me.
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Fleeing Breast Cancer, I Found a Miracle
I scheduled my preventative double mastectomy in September to give that dreaded month a chance to redeem herself. She didn't disappoint.
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Why I Said Yes to Cancer-Preventing Surgery
After one too many MRI biopsies, I decided I wasn't taking another lap around that monstrous circle of hell. Cancer or not, I was finding a way out.
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On Being a Mom Without a Mom
Motherless mothering is its own wilderness. Without my mom's roadmap, I've had to define motherhood for myself — and teach my children about a grandmother they'll never know.
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Beating Breast Cancer, Step by Step
Walking 39 miles against breast cancer reminded me that we're not powerless in this fight — and that stress, the quiet killer, deserves far more attention.
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I Don't Want to Have it All. I Just Want Variety.
I don't want to have it all. I just want variety — and the wisdom to find happiness in that way station between too little and too much.
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Going Back to Preschool
My first-born's last day of preschool reminded me that the tiny years are fleeting — and that thanks to Noah, I'm going back to school too.
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Inducing Labor for Convenience? Just Say No.
I induced labor for convenience and paid dearly for it. Childbirth isn't something you schedule into a tidy life-list — and my second, natural delivery proved how much better it can be.
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When a Mom Dies Young
Hearing the story of a young mother dying from breast cancer stirred my deepest fear: that my motherless history could repeat itself, and my babies would navigate this world without me.
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Clover's Toys
My 4-year-old discovered how functional his pants are — and used them to smuggle a puppy's chew toys out of the pet store.
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Unqualified
I was unqualified for motherhood — a motherless overachiever with more trust in her resume than in God. But he continually chooses the most unqualified to bear his glory.
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Feeling Guilty for What I'm Not
Motherhood has a way of magnifying every inadequacy. I'm learning to celebrate the gifts God gave me instead of drowning in guilt over the woman I'm not.
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Looking for Moms to Interview for Book Proposal
I'm seeking moms who endured difficult pregnancies, complicated births, or postpartum struggles to share their stories for a book proposal about surviving the brutal first days of motherhood.
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My Mother's Faith
A childhood autograph book revealed my mother's unwavering faith — a faith forged through abuse, abandonment, and loss that she passed to me like a torch before she died.
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Uncomfortably Numb
Mothering two young children has dulled my once-sharp mind and stalled my writing career. But chasing perfection is the real enemy — and God is bigger than the zombie zone of early motherhood.
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Attachment Parenting, 1970s-style
My mom nursed me until I was five — long before attachment parenting had a name. That fierce bond gave me an emotional reservoir I still draw from as a mother myself.
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Mom's Milk+Formula=A Happy Baby
My friend Annabelle found her own unconventional path — pumping exclusively and supplementing with formula — proving that the best feeding plan is the one that works for mom and baby.
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The Joy of Nursing
A fellow journalist shares how a lactation consultant transformed her early struggles into nearly two years of nursing — and some of the most cherished moments of her life.
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'Your Son Will Be Fat, Lazy and Sick'
When my cousin Rachel switched to formula, a close friend warned her son would be fat, lazy, and sick. Years later, he's thriving — and the friendship still bears the scars.
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Got Milk? Breastfeeding's Not Free--or Easy
Breastfeeding carries real economic and social costs, from lost earnings to public scorn. Moms deserve support — not judgment — no matter how they choose to feed their babies.
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The Bright One
I finally learned the gender of the baby I lost between my two children — a girl. Naming her Lena Karen gave her a wholeness that grief alone could never provide.
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A Time for Everything
On my son's third birthday, I returned to the Chicago neighborhood where he was born and reflected on how motherhood dismantled my old life — and slowly built a new one.
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Raising Children is Like Writing Stories
A day of field reporting reminded me how much I love journalism — and revealed that the skills of chasing a story aren't so different from the work of raising children.
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What Not to Say to Pregnant Women
From 'Are you carrying twins?' to 'Your life will never be the same' — a catalog of the thoughtless remarks people lob at expectant mothers, and why they need to stop.
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Motherhood: It's About Rhythm, Not Balance
We chase balance like a unicorn we'll never catch. What new mothers really need is rhythm — a grace-filled way of moving through each unbalanced season of life.
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Doing What Requires the Most Faith
A hospital tour sent me spiraling back to my son's traumatic birth. As my daughter's arrival nears, I'm learning that the path requiring the most faith is exactly where God wants me.
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The World, and Not Enough Time
A press secretary and mother of two young girls shares the daily struggle of being perpetually on call — at work and at home — and wishing for more time to simply enjoy her children.
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Marriage, Interrupted?
After 13 years at home with four children, my cousin Laura has found that the biggest emotional hurdle of stay-at-home motherhood isn't identity — it's the strain on her marriage.
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From Full-Time Corporate Lawyer to Full-Time Mom
When my friend Laura left her high-powered law career to stay home, she lost the identity she'd spent years building — and discovered a richer, more expansive definition of herself.
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Work, Guilt, and Feeling Like a 'Real Mom'
A full-time teacher and mother of two reflects on the guilt that shadows every school event she misses — and how volunteering in her sons' classrooms is the only time she feels like a real mom.
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Modern Motherhood: Is Freedom its Own Trap?
A highly educated generation of mothers has more choices than ever — and more stress. The emerging wisdom: you can have it all, just not all at once.
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When I Have Fears
My son's birth left my body broken and my mind reeling with post-traumatic thoughts. As I approach my daughter's delivery, I'm learning to hand my deepest fears to the only One who can wrestle them to the ground.
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A Conversation with Jerry Jenkins
Best-selling author Jerry Jenkins reminded our writing group that a good book idea can ripen with age, that family comes first, and that great writers never stop learning.
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An Emotional Walk of Faith
The identity shift from career woman to new mother felt like a door slamming shut on my old life. It took time — and faith — to discover that where I was didn't have to define who I am.
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A Mother Lost, a Mother Born
Losing my mother at 15 left a grief I carried into every milestone. Becoming a mother myself reopened the wound — and, unexpectedly, began to heal it.
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Report Ranks Norway as Best Country for Mothers
Save the Children ranks Norway the best place to be a mother and the U.S. a dismal 31st — a wake-up call about maternal mortality, child health, and America's stingy maternity-leave policies.
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The Privilege of Pregnancy
Insensitive comments about weight, body changes, and bleak predictions nearly eclipsed the joy of my first pregnancy. Carrying life is a privilege — not an invitation for unsolicited negativity.
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Learning to Revel in a Loss of Control
Motherhood dismantled my carefully managed to-do lists — and taught me that God's timing, not my own sense of control, is the safest place to land.
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