If you follow my Instagram, you may or may not be aware that I am currently in Uganda. Yes, the country. But, it isn't about visiting Uganda -- ok, maybe a little bit. Rather, it's about leaving behind my husband and child. It's about letting them fend for themselves. And really, it's about creating my own adventure [in Uganda], separated from the stress of packing items for the family, preparing ... View the Post
The benefit of leaving your kid behind – temporarily, of course
If you follow my Instagram, you may or may not be aware that I am currently in Uganda. Yes, the country. But, it isn't about visiting Uganda -- ok, maybe a little bit. Rather, it's about leaving behind my husband and child. It's about letting them fend for themselves. And really, it's about creating my own adventure [in Uganda], separated from the stress of packing items for the family, preparing meals for my husband's rotating work schedule, and battling my daughter about her shoes for the ... View the Post
Has my child ruined my career? Probably.
For the last week or so, I have been waking up at 5 am. The weather in the morning has been quite lovely--so I pour myself a coffee and attempt to cram in at least two hours of work before the house starts to stirs. While I love the time to myself -- to wake up early, sip my coffee and prepare for the day -- there is an underlying fear that my child has ruined my career. Sure, I could quit my company and go back to work for an established advertising agency full-time. Though, the reasons I ... View the Post
We mothers are all a hot mess
I am sitting outside my daughter's first week of ballet class. She could not be more excited -- which is an understatement. As a normal, functioning human being I slightly fear her persistent pursuit of ballet, the theatre, and dance and all that will come with it -- and I'm not talking about the cost. I'm talking about the fellow mothers. Right now, us mothers are hanging out outside our daughters' ballet class reading books, catching up on email, or in my case -- blogging about the other ... View the Post
My love-hate relationship with Podcasts
I love Podcasts. I love Podcasts so much that I have an entire blog post dedicated to them - hint, you're reading it. But, I hate Podcasts. I hate Podcasts so much that I have not written in the last two, ok maybe three weeks, because of the stress of this post and the stress of not having listened to my Podcasts. I hate to write this, because as you may or may not know the entire goal of Mommy Has Struggles IS a Podcast. Maybe not the goal, but ideally it will serve as 50% of its ... View the Post
My Breakthrough Decision to Stop Reading Parenting Books
I've stopped reading parenting books. I quit parenting books about halfway into the first year of raising our daughter. It was too much. It was too exhausting to keep up, too overwhelming to stay informed, and each day that I fell further behind in keeping up I felt like a failure. And so, I gathered all* our parenting books and Marie Kondo'd their bums far away from my minimalist-inspired home. I've decided to rely on instincts. I do this to protect myself from the anxiety that takes over ... View the Post
Confessions of 14 Kid-Critique Mistakes I Made Before Children
I feel like we as women always judge and question one another. After all, we are problem solvers. We are always looking for a way to explain behavior. Behavior in our spouses for why they can never remember where they last left their shoes--and behavior in the child of another for why it won't stop screaming. It's both better and worse if you do not have children. For those without children we often think, "Well, when I have a kid . . . [insert what we'll do different]" or "If this were my ... View the Post