Category Archives: Motherhood

What I Wish I Knew …

Three babies – I had a whole three babies who are now my big babies at ages 7, 11, and 14. Before I became a mom, I thought I knew a little somethin,’ somethin’ about raising kids. Turns out I was horribly wrong. There is so much I have learned over the last 14 years and so much I wish I knew before becoming a mama. Here’s 10 things I wish I knew before becoming a parent: #1 They are babies for, like, two seconds – literally. So, savor those moments. The new baby smell; soft, sweet cheeks; baby coos; […]

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It’s Happening Again

At first, I didn’t even recognize it because I have tried so hard to push past the pain, to revel in spring’s sunshine instead of the doldrums of the day. I’ve turned off the TV, refused to watch the videos, tried to ignore the social media commentary, yet it still caught up with me. It’s happening again. George Floyd’s murder trial, Daunte Wright, Adam Toledo Anguish as the dread in the pit of my stomach resurfaces Unfathomable fear as I watch my black son, my literal heart outside my chest, navigate a world that views him, his innocence, his existence, […]

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Who’s Checking on Mom: The Necessity of the 4th Trimester

The Trimesters Expectant parents need only to google “pregnancy trimesters” and in two seconds find themselves inundated with everything from blog posts to detailed infographics chronicling the baby’s growth and development over the next 10 months of gestation. Need to know how big baby is at 24 weeks, the ins and outs of the oral glucose tolerance test, or the signs of labor – the internet has answers. Pregnant mommies see the Obstetrician 12+ times over the course pregnancy to ensure that baby is healthy and growing as expected and to reduce the risk of obstetrical complications for both mom […]

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Thick, Heavy Love

Thin love? “Love is or it ain’t. Thin love ain’t love at all.” These are the words Sethe uttered to Paul D in Beloved, the haunting novel written by the late Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winning author Toni Morrison.   Thin love is shallow, fleeting, incapable of climbing hills or moving through valleys for it loses its energy along the journey. But thick love is that heavy love, its depth immeasurable, vast and wide. Thick love nurtures, creates space, speaks loudly even in silence, and always shows up. It wraps itself around itself and still makes room to envelop others […]

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On the Front Lines: Battling Mommy Burnout

A version of this blog originally appeared on Birmingham Moms Collective Busy, Busy, Busy Let’s be honest, mamas. We were doing too much before COVID – hello the invisible workload of motherhood, all that other stuff we do to ensure our household runs smoothly like getting kids ready for school, baths and bedtime routines, scheduling doctor and dentist appointments, and registering for summer camp and such. Now, almost a year later from when life as we once knew it came to a screeching halt, we have even more tacked on to our already overflowing to-do list. Lines and roles remain […]

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You’re Here, But I Still Miss You

Strange Times What a peculiar span of time within which we continue to find ourselves. I honestly believed, dared to presume, that COVID-19 would breeze through the United States, leaving few remnants of its contagion. Yet, the legacy of this novel coronavirus strain has been death, divide, and destruction. There’s been a shift in my household as well. Thankfully there have been no significant perils. Rather it’s a curious dilemma; and it’s one I never predicted – the description of which reads like a clever rhyme from a children’s picture book: It’s quite the conundrum and completely unfair. For you […]

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