Thank GOD for the other moms. This was so, so good friend. A really beautiful testament to the other mothers who are helping us love on our kids (and love ourselves). Also--YES to The Bear and YES to Shrinking (right?!) and YES to all these wonderful GIFs and things. The one with the toddler puppy turning into a pterodactyl was spot on for the stage we are at rn, lol.
Oh my goodness, I have tears of gratitude running down my cheeks- for your words in capturing this and for the other mothers in my life. My first born was 5 weeks old when COVID shut down the US. The loneliness of that first year of motherhood felt all encompassing some days and was one of the biggest griefs in the early COVID days for me. Now I have other mothers in my life (mostly ones I have met "in the wild") and I cannot imagine my weeks without them. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Wow, that first year sounds so hard, so isolated! What a hardship you covid mamas had to endure! I'm so glad you've found your people, and I love that, "In the wild" :)
This was fantastic--I forwarded it to a friend with the subject line "This is how I feel about our friendship." Thank you for the Tuesday afternoon infusion of hope, and welcome back to the 'stack!
Aww, that means so much! Thank you for sharing! I'm so glad you had someone in mind when you read this. I had a few of my own Other Mothers in mind while I wrote it (thus, the tears!).
Great essay Liz - my kids aren't quite old enough for sports yet but I was tearing up anyway in anticipation, ha. And sports aren't really the point anyway, right? Thanks for sharing.
I played a lot of sports growing up and into high school, and I have never felt more sports-related anxiety or emotion than while watching my own kids play. It is a TRIP!
Whew. Tears with Annie as she felt her daughter’s joy and relief deep in her soul. ❤️ Beautiful words, friend. Moms do really keep it all going, don’t they? I’m so glad you embraced an unplanned sabbatical and that you’re back. 🙌🏼 Can’t wait to check out Braiding Sweetgrass (it keeps coming up in recommendations!).
It was the same for me with Braiding Sweetgrass. It took me years to get to it, but it's a top pick for me now. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! Thanks for the hearty welcome back!
It is...an experience. The worst is that the sports my kids are in (baseball, gymnastics) are such individual sports vs. basketball or soccer where you don't have to watch them make game-changing mistakes on their own. But there's also so much goodness in it. I think?
I've thought about your words over the past few days — especially the image of the Kelly and Annie. SO GOOD. Thanks for writing. Also, the toddler memes at the end were exactly what I needed in the middle of a very hard week.
This is beautiful, thank you
I'm so glad you enjoyed it! :)
Thank GOD for the other moms. This was so, so good friend. A really beautiful testament to the other mothers who are helping us love on our kids (and love ourselves). Also--YES to The Bear and YES to Shrinking (right?!) and YES to all these wonderful GIFs and things. The one with the toddler puppy turning into a pterodactyl was spot on for the stage we are at rn, lol.
Yes, thank GOD indeed! I could literally not do this without the Other Mothers!
I've always said I could have 100 newborns, just not 100 pterodactyls :)
Oh my goodness, I have tears of gratitude running down my cheeks- for your words in capturing this and for the other mothers in my life. My first born was 5 weeks old when COVID shut down the US. The loneliness of that first year of motherhood felt all encompassing some days and was one of the biggest griefs in the early COVID days for me. Now I have other mothers in my life (mostly ones I have met "in the wild") and I cannot imagine my weeks without them. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Wow, that first year sounds so hard, so isolated! What a hardship you covid mamas had to endure! I'm so glad you've found your people, and I love that, "In the wild" :)
This was fantastic--I forwarded it to a friend with the subject line "This is how I feel about our friendship." Thank you for the Tuesday afternoon infusion of hope, and welcome back to the 'stack!
Aww, that means so much! Thank you for sharing! I'm so glad you had someone in mind when you read this. I had a few of my own Other Mothers in mind while I wrote it (thus, the tears!).
Great essay Liz - my kids aren't quite old enough for sports yet but I was tearing up anyway in anticipation, ha. And sports aren't really the point anyway, right? Thanks for sharing.
I played a lot of sports growing up and into high school, and I have never felt more sports-related anxiety or emotion than while watching my own kids play. It is a TRIP!
Whew. Tears with Annie as she felt her daughter’s joy and relief deep in her soul. ❤️ Beautiful words, friend. Moms do really keep it all going, don’t they? I’m so glad you embraced an unplanned sabbatical and that you’re back. 🙌🏼 Can’t wait to check out Braiding Sweetgrass (it keeps coming up in recommendations!).
It was the same for me with Braiding Sweetgrass. It took me years to get to it, but it's a top pick for me now. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it! Thanks for the hearty welcome back!
The sports!! I can't!! I am not going to cope!! Too much roller coaster, too much!!
It is...an experience. The worst is that the sports my kids are in (baseball, gymnastics) are such individual sports vs. basketball or soccer where you don't have to watch them make game-changing mistakes on their own. But there's also so much goodness in it. I think?
I've thought about your words over the past few days — especially the image of the Kelly and Annie. SO GOOD. Thanks for writing. Also, the toddler memes at the end were exactly what I needed in the middle of a very hard week.