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.
gingerbride26
member
Re: WTF Wednesday - 6/6/18
WTF to DH for staying up late watching Netflix every night, leaving me to get my crippled ass out of bed with DS every morning.
I may have passive aggressively let DS bring his noisiest truck book into bed to show daddy.
WTF cat who thinks the freshly washed baby stuff is her bed. Get out!!
@wildtot DH brought her to bed wit him and curious george at 630 AM while I took my meeting, but when I came back upstairs at quarter of 8 she was full out tantrumming on the bedroom floor - and got SUPER dusty...ooops... getting her out the door to daycare was a nightmare... kind of feel bad for DH...I'm now back in bed with fur baby curled up at my feet and a cup of coffee and cheese stick so i'm less salty now :-D Though I think I will order that toddler clock today... because this crap will not fly if she wakes up a newborn
I am glad this was started so early because, as usual, my WTF is work. Basically my office is falling apart at the seams. Aside from me and my pregnancy issues, one person is going out for surgery in 2 weeks, another person just found out she has to have emergency surgery "soon" but not sure when to remove enormous fibroids that suddenly grow in her uterus (which apparently is major abdominal surgery similar to a c-section...), our administrative assistant quit last month with zero notice and (not at all surprisingly) has not been replaced yet, my boss is her usual flaky self who complains about how she is sooo busy and has no time, yet also sits around blabbing about her dating life an awful lot and going on dates with random men she met online. Meanwhile, the intern she hired started 2 weeks ago apparently has NOOO clue what she's doing, I guess because no one is training her, and she's already completely messed up one of my cases to the point where the child won't be receiving his special education services next school year because she failed to give me a message (it is also partly the parent's fault, but still). And then there's our one other support staff employee, who is completely useless and I have no idea wtf she's being paid for because she seems to do more harm than good, but my boss will never fire someone, no matter how shitty of an employee they are. I am seriously starting to wonder how this place is going to survive the next couple months.
At least during the night I finally plucked up the courage to order new pots and pans that DH has been badgering me to.
@acunamatada Good for you! I am so far past tip toeing around DH or feeling bad for making noise. "We've been married 7 years next month and you still haven't actively tried to help your insomnia? Not my problem anymore, dude. Sure DS, watch cartoons and jump around on daddy all you want-- go crazy, kid."
I give him plenty of mornings off because he does work a lot. Plus when I work on the weekends I bring DS to my mothers in the morning so he can sleep in before work... But DH is still a little bitch baby about sleep. At 9mo pregnant, sympathy is officially gone.
Now it's gotten weird. About 5-10 minutes after eating anything more substantial than an apple I get really winded, my heart starts racing and my belly is so uncomfortable I can't stand sitting up.
I'm starting to worry about something being wrong with me. I passed my 1 hour glucose test, my blood pressure has always been on the low end of normal. My appetite definitely decreased at this point when I was pregnant with DD but this is severe. WTF?!?
Sending all you mommas a great big hug for dealing with punk kiddos and then some!
@zande2016 I can relate to some of your complaints about your company, mine is also a small one and similar stuff happens there. For example, and this is my slight WTF, I mentioned how one of the owners and bosses is pushing to get more monthly work for my part of the business (I am a pm not a sales person...). Well, I have a quote that this client is for sure going to approve, which means more work right? Except my boss spends ALL MORNING (in EST time) sending non urgent emails to clients about other stuff and completely ignores my email with the quote she needs to approve before it's sent. And my client was supposed to have it yesterday, but my boss was having minor surgery.
I pinged here this morning and she said oh yeah I forgot to tell you I saw it, I'll tell you later because I'm on a call...guess what, now she is gone at an appointment and the quote is still pending. So feefreak annoying to do all the work and then be stalled because ppl are not on their game.
Hatch does have to be plugged in all the time and the cord isn't super long, but it's also a standard miniUSB so you can use any you have laying around. I love that it's color configurable (can replace a night light) and has white noise. I've been using it in our bedroom to help drown out DH making too much noise after I go to bed or when he wakes up. I haven't used the wake up feature yet, but I bought this one because I love that I can adjust it from the app if I change my mind and want it to go off earlier or later.
We are strongly considering replacing the OK to Wake that DD has with the Hatch, but haven't pulled the plug yet. Hatch is eligible for the completion discount on Amazon, so add it to your registry and buy that way if you haven't already!
And side bar- I’d totally do EI at the sitters- who wants to clean their house for visitors every week?? No thank you.
Our DS 2yo is in speech EI now and it's really helped a ton.
Second WTF - DD is batting 1000 today - completely flipped out during bath...like both of us had to strip or get soaked and hold her in the tub because she kept trying to climb out of the tub and kick and thrash... she did let me cut her nails while daddy read her fishy books after she'd calmed down... maybe mimi's terrifying pool present turned her off all water!?
Friend: “How the hell did (son) get Lymes? Was it playing in the woods??”
me: “no he wasn’t playing in the woods...I don’t know.
friend: “It’s just weird because I’m sure you see his body everyday for a bath and changing etc. like how does a baby get lymes?”
Is she trying to make me feel bad for letting my kid play outside, or for not noticing the tick on him during bath time?? Geez the mom guilt is bad enough. Seriously wtf.