As we bid farewell to 2023, we can’t help but hit rewind on some of our favorite blog posts from our PMC team over the past year.
Our writers have crafted articles that have not only informed but also ignited conversations and sparked curiosity. From thought-provoking analyses to heartwarming tales, these articles have left an indelible mark – stories that made us ponder, chuckle, and feel all the feels.
So, kick off your shoes, find your comfiest spot, and let’s dive into our favorites from 2023…
Do You Even See Her?
We need to make an effort to be aware of those around us, not only the first time we meet someone. We need to see her day after day, week after week, and month after month.
We may not ever be the best of friends. But she needs always to know that when she walks into a room, she too can have a seat at the table.
Once that table fills, we shouldn’t take chairs from another table to add to our table. We should branch out and add ourselves to those empty tables to invite others in. When we invite others in, the more we love and the better we love.
It shouldn’t be on the other person to find her people.
Let’s find her.
Let’s flip the script, and instead of saying, “You can sit with us,” let’s say, “I’ll sit with you.”
Read the full post here.
The Invisible Mental Load of Mothers
The invisible mental load encompasses many tasks, many intangible and difficult to quantify. In my own life, it ranges from tracking school schedules to managing household repairs, anticipating my children’s needs, organizing appointments for myself, my children, and sometimes my spouse, and even recalling family birthdays and anniversaries.
Safe to say, we mothers often bear the weight of these responsibilities.
This mental load can be exhausting, as it constantly occupies a mother’s thoughts and requires such planning and organization that we often feel overwhelmed.
Read the full post here.
Everyone Should Celebrate Black History Month (From a White Mama)
As a white mom with white kids, I only thought of black history month once a year. Now, as a mom of a black child, I think of it every single day. I know that I am a work in progress. Therefore, I must continue to educate myself, as well as my kids, on the prejudices that still exist and how to fight them. I have to teach them to be socially aware.
Black History Month is a great place to start.
Read the full post here.s
Lessons Learned From My Adult Children
Twenty-seven years ago, I struggled with infertility.
I filled my head with idealized visions of my parenting plans should that day ever come. How I would teach my future child, or children, how to read, think, play, and so on. When my first child arrived in 1997 and then my second just a little over a year later in 1998, my visions quickly changed.
What I learned, and continue to learn, is that my children teach me as often as I teach them. Even more so now as young adults.
Read the full post here.
Loving Him, Her, They and Them
I think about Tom’s mother a lot. I think about how we are all transitioning to Tom’s new life. Tom’s mom with her child, and me with mine. I hope she knows how much I care. I hope she knows how hard I’m trying. I hope she will have patience with my son when he accidentally uses the incorrect name or pronoun. I hope she knows how much we want them to be happy.
I just have a sense that both children are struggling with the change, albeit in different ways. So I hope they know how much they are both loved.
Read the full post here.
Healthy Moms Take Care of Themselves: My Postpartum Anxiety
But something wasn’t right. I told myself it was all hormones. That I was not going to feel like myself for a while, and that would have to be okay. That my body had been through so much that recovery would be an inevitably long, uphill battle.
I remember waking up in cold sweats a lot. Most of that was truly hormones. But I was also waking up from nightmares: That I had dropped my baby or lost my baby. I would go over to the bassinet and watch her sleep, holding my hand above her face to feel for air on exhalation to make sure she was breathing.
This can’t be normal, I thought.
Read the full post here.
Five Things I’ve Learned from Having a Daughter: A Dad’s Perspective
I thought it would be easy to come up with a list of things I love about being a dad to a little girl. But once I started writing, nothing seemed right.
There were, of course, the funny things. And the things you would expect. However, none of it genuinely captured my experience of being the father to a little girl.
My daughter, Godwin, is so many different things wrapped up in one package. I’m not sure those things have anything to do with the fact she is a little girl. She’s just Godwin.
But here are the things that surprised me about being a girl dad…
Read the full post here.
The In-Between: Where Tweens and Parents Dwell
We are in the thick of tweenhood – her in the tween stage and me being the parent of a tween. I try to remember that this, too, shall pass.
She is in a rapidly changing time. This in-between stage is one of the most difficult I’ve parented through.
Read the full post here.
I Do, Again
Fast forward 16 years, and here I am at 40, planning another wedding. This one, however, does not align with the fantasies of my childhood. There is no cookie-cutter mold to follow this time, and in fact, I feel an overwhelming urge to deviate from tradition.
Been there, done that.
This time around, my priorities have shifted. My life has become busier and more complex, leaving me little time (or desire) to obsess over place cards or the flavor of the wedding cake. Those things no longer hold the same importance.
Read the full post here.
The Sandwich Generation
It is more common to see multi-generational family members living together and caring for each other than in previous generations.
The term “Sandwich Generation” relates to those individuals who find themselves squeezed between the responsibilities of caring for parents as well as raising their own children (whether adults or minors).
This unique group of individuals is caught between the demands of caring for their aging parents while simultaneously supporting their own minor and adult children. This delicate balancing act can be emotionally, physically, and financially draining.
Read the full post here.
