Hello, let me introduce myself first..
For the first 30 years of my life, everything was smooth and worry-free. I was my parents’ most beloved child, found my true love in college, and happily married him after graduation.
At work, I was my boss’s most valued employee. Whenever I was in charge of a project, colleagues would inevitably say, “Oh, then I’m totally at ease.” I was constantly named “Employee of the Year,” with generous bonuses every year.
Later, I started my own business. Within just three months, I had broken into the market and started making money. By the fifth month, I was earning twice my previous salary. Growth was steady month after month. Right when the business needed more hands, I serendipitously met an amazing partner, and the company reached a whole new level.
Really, it seemed like at every step, whatever I needed, a pair of hands would always place it right in front of me, just in time.
My Two Girls: Ellie & Mia
Meet Ellie, My Firstborn
In 2020, my husband and I decided to have a child. After trying for over a year, we finally got the news in 2021 that a little one was on the way. In 2022, we welcomed our first child, Ellie. She made me a mother.
She is utterly adorable—big eyes, rosy skin, chubby little hands. Every time I look at her, I can’t help but give her a kiss. She is pure joy, and I love her more each day.
But as a first-time mom, I faced unprecedented difficulties. The postpartum tearing wouldn’t heal, and the pain was excruciating. Clogged milk ducts made my breasts hard as rocks. The severe sleep deprivation… And what was even more crushing was that, with zero parenting experience, I was clueless when faced with her unexplained wailing, night terrors, refusal to nurse, constipation, diarrhea, fevers… I desperately searched online, longing for one accurate, truly useful answer!
It was during this time that I thought, once I make it through this “dark” path, I must leave a light on for other new moms.
And Then Came Mia
Ellie had just turned one when I got pregnant again. In 2024, we welcomed our second daughter, Mia.
Completely different from Ellie, Mia is a great eater and sleeper. Although she had her fussy moments in the first two months, starting almost from month three, she became super easygoing. She feeds on schedule, gradually sleeps through the night, loves her solid foods, and adapted quickly when I had to stop breastfeeding due to mastitis.
This made me realize just how vastly different babies can be! It made me even more determined to write about my experiences.
Why I Had to Start This Blog
The Catalyst: A Life Pivoted
After Mia was born, my business also began to decline sharply. I had no choice but to close it and become a full-time mom. My work no longer involves Excel and Word, but instead revolves around changing diapers, washing bottles, making baby food, and managing household chores…
This has been a monumental challenge for me. All my past achievements seem irrelevant now. Managing two young children has brought me a sense of frustration I’ve never known before.
The Daily Reality
They are always fighting over things. When one is in my arms, the other immediately demands to be held too. When I try to cook, Ellie wants me to read her a book. When I attempt to load the washing machine, Mia has a diaper blowout, and I must drop everything to change her…
By the time I finish all that, I see the cup of hot coffee on the table has gone cold again. And it’s not until evening that I remember, “Oh my goodness, the clothes are still in the hamper, unwashed!”
Of course, being a mom is filled with happiness, but that doesn’t negate how hard it is.
My Promise to You
Because I’ve walked this path myself, I won’t just tell you how joyful motherhood is, like many websites do. I want to share my real, unfiltered experiences so every new mom can find a “companion” here.
I want to tell you: you are not alone. What you’re going through, I’ve been there too. Your breakdowns, your helplessness, your moments of losing control—I’ve had them all. You don’t need to feel guilty. This is just a small, necessary stretch of the journey for every mom.
My Hope for This Space
I really want to share my parenting experiences—not just the warm, glowing moments, but to honestly document the pitfalls I’ve stumbled into, the tears I’ve shed, and the “survival wisdom” I’ve scraped together in utter exhaustion.
The Goal: A Mom’s Toolkit
I hope this blog becomes a “mom’s toolkit,” filled not with vague theories, but with:
- Practical Tips: Like how to quickly figure out why a baby is crying, tried-and-true methods for dealing with clogged ducts, or how to efficiently manage the daily grind with twins (or two under two) solo.
- Pitfall Avoidance Guides: Sharing the baby products I regret buying the most, and those “game-changer” parenting hacks. Letting you know which parenting anxieties you can let go of, and which principles are worth holding onto.
- A Community for Moms: I hope my stories connect me with more moms like you. We can cheer each other on in the comments, share our own tricks, turning the storms we face alone into a journey we walk together.
The Bigger Vision
My previous career taught me to analyze data, solve problems, and optimize processes. Now, I’m applying all those skills to this new “position” of Mom. I want to prove that a mom’s value is absolutely not confined to the home. The mindset, resilience, and creativity we built in our careers can shine just as brightly—perhaps even brighter—in this more complex, long-term “project” of raising humans, and can even be transformed into a force that helps others.
My hope is simple: that every mom who opens this blog can let out a sigh of relief and say, “So it’s not just me.” Then, she can find a bit of practical info, a dose of comforting solidarity, and return to her sweet, chaotic mom-life with a little more confidence and a little less weight on her shoulders.
This road? Let’s walk it together.
tct1219
member
Re: worst baby name trend
Oh, so many:
the -aden trend
Extraneous Ys (what did AEIOU ever do to you?!)
misspelling common names to make them more yooneek
boys' names for girls (I'm looking at you, Elliot)
using surnames names that aren't from your own family
place names
I can't just choose one:
Making up a name and insisting it isn't made up (Jarson)
Horrendous mis-spellings (Alyvia or Alizabath)
Sticking a Y into it for cuteness (Iryeland)
Giving very common boy names (Bryan) to pretty little baby girls
Naming your baby after a celeb baby (Apple or Mowgli)
I could probably go on but these are the worse for me!
Oh there are so many!
The -aden phenomenon really bugs.
Surnames for given names if it's not from your family - especially for girls.
I think the one that irritates me the most is using masculine names for girls. I hate unisex and mix-gender names. Leave the boys' names alone!
Uneek spellings and random y's.
Place names (London, Boston, Dallas, Austin, Denver, etc...)
Nicknames for given names. Your kid isn't going to be a child forever - give them a real name!!
How could I forget that horrendous trend. I still feel bad for a girl I interviewed one time named Katy. I did hire her and she was fabulous but she told me it was really hard being young, out of college, and stuck w/a goofy name like that. She said everyone just assumed she wasn't taking her apps seriously
Ditto; this is a huge one for me. Can't believe I forgot it!
if you look at my post, i put aiden with an E, to me aidan is a real name and aiden is just a trendy new spelling.
Like other people have said, misspelling a common name to make it more individual or unique.
Why saddle your kid with a name that he/she is going to constantly having to be correcting people on the spelling of? I just don't get the point.
the trend I hate.. The I'm 2% Irish or Welsh, live in America, and really want to play on my heritage, therefore I will name my child Saiorse or Ceindrych
The children sound like extras from "The Mists of Avalon"
bad bad bad
Mes Petit Choux
I can't go back to yesterday - because I was a different person then. ~ Alice
The "pick a letter or two and then add -ayden" trend.
Ayden
Brayden
Cayden
Dreyden
Grayden
Hayden
Jayden
Kayden
Payden (actually saw this one... pronounced Payton)
go to utahbabynames.com
You'll get a kick out of all of the interesting concoctions there!
I agree with all the trends...
And I'm adding two names to the "aden" trend:
Zaden
Raden
I honestly know two poor little boys stuck with these names.
Here are the ones that drive me nuts...
any random sound with -ley on the end is an instant girls name (Kinley, Brinley, Riley, Briley, Kiley, Miley, etc.)
any random sound with -lyn on the end is an instant girls name (Braelyn, Katelyn, Brooklyn, Ashlyn, Carlyn, Marlyn, Harlyn, Brinlyn, Haylyn, Jaylyn, etc.)
the -den/-ton names (Brayden, Caden, Hayden, Payton, Preston, Weston, etc.)
I hate the -ee trend- Caylee, Kacee, Rylee, Carlee, Emilee.... too childish looking IMO.
I love the name Aidan, it is a classic Irish name- but I do think it has kind of been ruined by the -aden trend that followed it.
Ditto. If I see a name I like, but isn't obvious how to spell or pronounce, I take it off the list. Example: Caitlin, Katelyn, Kaitlin, etc.. I love this name, but I feel like there are too many ways to spell it and it will be annoying to always have to spell it for people. ?
can we add names that end wish -ayson to this list?
Mayson
Grayson
Brayson
FFS
Just curious then.. where do you draw the line? Does a parent have to be from said country? Grandparent? Only 100% ancestry? Have to have visited said country? Speak that language?
And, where do you draw the line from American and not so American, re: names? Is John American enough? Is Sean? Aidan? Are there different levels of acceptance depending on the region of the US you are in? Or what country culture your ancestry is?
Thank you! That's exactly what I was thinking. As someone who is of more than 50% Celtic descent and whose family immigrated from Wales, I take offense to what that poster said. Why should I dismiss a name that holds a lot of meaning to me simply because people are too stupid to spell it or pronounce it correctly? If I were to cross every name off my list that people were too dumb to spell or pronounce, there wouldn't be a single one left! And IMHO, a name like Saoirse is much more beautiful than half the names I've seen posted on this board.
Probably the trend that bugs me the most is using traditionally masculine-sounding names for girls. Hayden is one that really irks me, but that's just my personal preference.
01.03.09 {MARRIED BIO}
Make a pregnancy ticker
I am actually beginning to think the most annoying baby name trend is pregnant women with too much time on their hands with nothing else to think about other than to make fun of baby names and be judgmental.?
?
I hate this trend of naming your child after a place. Brooklyn, Phoenix, London, Paris, Madison, Bronx. Madison is a street and Bronx and Brooklyn are boroughs where I live. The woman who is two floors down from me in our complex has sons named Manhattan and Azur.
I also don't like these "you-neek" spellings of names, with random letters squished in where they don't belong. It's extremely tacky and makes you look illiterate.
Angel Baby: 5/29/08
I know of a ZAYDEN. Seriously?
Place names is my #1 annoyance. Next is probably Mc or Mac names. McKenzie McKayla Mackenzy or whatever. Then there are the cutesy names like Rylee or Caylee. Cute for a baby, but what about in a boardroom?
It doesn't bother me when people do it, but I wouldn't pick a very generic name that is very common. My kids have names that are not unusual, not popular, but they are the only ones in their daycare with those names. And you would probably all know how to spell them.
At the beginning of this thread, someone mentioned the name Katy. I don't think that's bad. Am I missing something?
Hey! Let up with the "boy's names for girls" thing! My name is my father's name and it's VERY masculine and I was born WAY BEFORE all the trendy baby-naming thang took off (41 years ago!). People remember it. It has helped in business. It has spawned numerous nicknames, all of which I love also. It is a beautiful thing for a daughter to be named after her dad--so special. I am still upset that I did not choose to go this same route with my daughter--she is exactly like her daddy!
As for the "extra Y" thing--right there with everybody on that one! It is hideous! It looks like the parents couldn't spell!
Ooooh! I can do you one better! I know a Xaeden pronounced Zayden!
::shudders::