Know Your Worth
How much worth do you place on the day to day care-taking that you’re doing for your newborn? This can be a really challenging time for both parents. But it’s something that you should be discussing with one another because one of you will be the primary caregiver of your newborn – either for the […]
I’m Gonna Make You An Offer That You Can’t Refuse…
You must say yes to all offers of help. At least the ones that will actually help you! This is a skill that we’re not particularly good at as expectant or new parents. Maybe it’s our cultural attraction to the DIY model of getting things done: “If we don’t ask anyone for help, that must […]
Make ‘Em Laugh
One of the things that can be really frustrating for new parents is the lack of positive feedback from their newborns. They are needy little creatures at first and many new parents are hoping for babies who might not be laughing straight out of the womb, but will at least smile every once in a while. […]
Have a Little Patience
As a Senior in High School, I had this amazing AP English teacher, Ms. Lausch, who encouraged us to keep a notebook at all times. We could doodle in it, write stories, song lyrics or poems, it didn’t matter as long as we did something. She would collect the notebooks every Friday and “grade” them. […]
A Body at Rest…
This work of ushering new, little people into the human race is hard, stinky, messy work a lot of the time. And all of it is made so much harder by the fact that these new, little people have no clue how to sleep during the hours that old, big people are used to keeping. […]
“The Period of Purple Crying” What is THAT?!
Have you heard about “The Period of Purple Crying?” Have you already experienced it? If not, consider yourself lucky. If you are reading this in the midst of such a period, you have my greatest empathy. The Period of Purple Crying is something that most parents will experience at some point and I want you to […]
31 Days – What Can I Say? It’s a Calling.
I sat in the darkened auditorium watching a series of slides: different women laboring hard to bring their babies into this world, while Tracy Chapman’s The Promise played quietly in the background. I felt like I had finally discovered what it was that I wanted to devote my life’s work to. This made no practical […]
The 4th Trimester = “New Normal”
Three months is the bare minimum for how long it takes for families to realize their “new normal.” Parental leave needs to be extended through the 4th Trimester to support families in this huge life transition.