Happy New Year to you and Happy Birthday to us! Today marks five years since the launch of Twin Cities Moms Blog and we’re excited about a week of celebration, reflection and, of course, giveaways, so be sure to keep an eye on our Facebook page.
We’ve always hoped for the moms within our community to find a place where they feel like they belong and a place to connect. A place where they can read perspectives from other moms, from within our community, and know that they’re not the only one going through something. It’s one of our deepest hopes that you see a bit of yourself in one of us. And while the words “Moms Blog” may insinuate a place full of diaper recommendations, pregnancy tips and the like, the content our writers share with you, their stories, are so much more than that. We certainly have our recommendations, but these are moms, just like you, sharing the good, the hard and the downright ugly. The happy moments and ideas to encourage you, and the moments that none of us expected life to throw at us – the kind that kick you when you’re down.
Whether you’re laughing alongside one of our writers as you read her words, or crying and nodding through a post that hits your heart, knowing this gal gets you, we hope you come here to find your people.
We mamas are a unique breed. While each of our individual experiences is personal, the commonalities that bind us together really do bring the larger community together in a way that we firmly believe moms and women can do in ways that others can’t. We build micro-communities within our homes and we can easily do the same outside of it as well.
Below we’ve gathered the top 10 posts of 2018! These are all articles written by local moms and we hope you find something that resonates with your journey in one of the posts below. 2019 is going to be truly amazing…we’re sure of it!
“I was going to get married, have 4-5 kids, be a marketing executive, live in a loft in the city, and I for sure would have a dog {had to get one to throw it in my parent’s face that they would never allow it!}
I quickly realized through a series of traumatic life events that man, I sure wasn’t in control. And this most certainly was not the life that I had planned.”
“I’ve come across so many great articles recently about how important it is to take “me” time as a mom. Can I be honest? I don’t know how people do this during this stage of parenting young kids! In my life, the chores just keep piling up and the kids’ needs are constant, and it’s all I can do to keep my head above water.”
“It was the softness of the denim that first drew me in. I didn’t know they were high waist at first, as I was looking through the rack. By the time I realized what I had done, it was too late. The material felt as worn and comfortable as a pair of sweatpants. I grabbed the hanger and headed to the dressing room. Surely it couldn’t hurt to try them on.”
“In walks a friend with a brilliant idea: a trip to someplace warm to escape the winter with friends and our families. And it is magic. Last year, I did go to Mexico with four kids under three. I also went with five other adults. Three families combined our parenting and financial power to have an amazing vacation. So amazing, in fact, that we are already planning to do it again next year.”
“Being in an interracial marriage brings its own societal assumptions and stereotypes, but I love this man. He is a good, good man. And falls in love with me when I sing “If You Like Pina Coladas” at the top of my lungs with the windows down. He keeps giving me all these babies. He rejoices with me. He comforts me when I cry. He is my other puzzle piece. The world might see him as a black man and me as white woman. To me, he is my darling husband.”
“Our second birth story was written in a completely different book. I never found a pregnancy guide covering: how to have a baby while your husband has chemotherapy. What I found instead, was an online support group of young cancer wives. I came to learn our experience of scheduling prenatal visits around oncology appointments was, unfortunately, not unique.”
“Some of us get to plan that out and things turn out as we dreamed. For those of us who don’t have it turn out that way, we have different stories. Some planned, some unplanned. Single parenthood, struggles with infertility, pregnancy loss, or the loss of a partner. There are more reasons than we may realize to not have our story play out the way we once planned.
And this is can be okay. This can be good. This can work.”
“So let me make you some rules on how to be my mom friend. First, drop your expectations. Low. Lower than that. Actually, just don’t have any expectations beyond basking in each others’ presence. Basically, go one step up from your usual state of barely dressed in recognizable adult clothing, and that’s only because I know how much you’ll like to feel like you accomplished something today. Let’s recognize how amazing it is that you put on clothes and not try much harder than that. All we’re gonna do is be together.”
“Many people resist the Enneagram because it feels too negative, and, while it’s true that the Enneagram is not a tool for flattery, I believe it’s full of hope: it tells us that the worst part of us can also be the place of our greatest healing. Our brokenness is often a distortion of our strengths. I have found the Enneagram to be the most compassionate system for understanding human personality because it helps me see the unconscious motivations driving our behavior.”
“Before I had children I use to roll my eyes at those over tired parents who had no time to date.
I mean really? How hard could it be to call up a babysitter, put on some lipstick and heels, and take off for a few hours?
Turns out REALLY hard. I apologize for my pre-child self. She was a little judgmental and rude.”
Our most popular articles are local event guides, which we’ve kept out of our Top Ten, but we couldn’t help but share a few here!
Lastly, be sure to check out our Family Directory! With over 1,000 listings across the metro, it’s our largest resource!
