Motherly Stories - Essays About Being A Mom - Motherly
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Motherly Stories

Motherhood changes us. Celebrate the ups and downs with these honest, insightful essays about becoming—and being—a mom.

mom hugging daughter - being a mom is hard

Motherhood comes with challenges—at every stage

It doesn't matter your age. It doesn’t matter when you first became a mom or when you gave birth to your last. It doesn’t matter if you’re a mom of one or of many.

Updated Sep. 07, 2022
woman doing yoga

Motherhood has made me stop seeing my hormones as the enemy—and recognize them as the miracle they are

Recognizing the way my body’s biology works has made me feel like a superhero.

Updated Aug. 10, 2022
mom and daughter with foreheads pressed against each other eating ice cream

Being a mom hasn’t hurt my career—it helped

From being consistent to praising publicly, criticizing privately, here are the parenting and leadership rules that I (try to) live by.

Updated Jan. 18, 2023
mom and baby playing on bed - bonding with your baby

How to foster deeper connections with your baby

"Distractions are everywhere, and we often forget to ground ourselves before connecting with our baby so we can be fully present"

Updated Jan. 18, 2023
kid playing with toys all over floor

Let your kids make the mess

Because messes can be cleaned.

Updated Sep. 07, 2022
woman angry at iphone

Moms to Instagram: We want our friends and family back

"The news that Instagram (and, to a lesser extent, Facebook) is shifting away from a friends and family model to a content creator model had a lot of moms wondering, where in the world is my social network?"

Updated Jul. 28, 2022
woman sitting on the living room floor

5 ways to manage the Sunday Scaries as a mom

1. Check your thoughts, and then challenge them

Updated Sep. 07, 2022
mom and son playing on playground

I’m an antisocial mom raising a social kid

I hadn’t thought about how my homebody tendencies were keeping my son from building relationships and creating memories outside of our home, with other people. 

Updated Sep. 07, 2022
mom smilling at teen son

As a mom, sometimes the lasts mean more than the firsts

And I realize that many of these moments will be "lasts" very soon, so I cherish them as if they are. 

Updated Nov. 29, 2022
woman laying in bed with hands over her head

Mama, it’s time to prioritize your needs—even over your kids’

“It doesn’t have to be like this. I’m tired of being so tired. We can take our power back.”

Updated Jul. 26, 2022
mom holding child

I want another baby, but I’m afraid I won’t be the mother they deserve

I’m afraid that I will lack understanding—and that even with the wisdom collected in becoming a mother for the first time, I will have so much to learn and unlearn in becoming a mother again.

Updated Sep. 07, 2022
woman texting on phone- mom friends

A love letter to the mom friends I always text—but rarely see

"I don't know how I'd endure motherhood without the hopeful, sarcastic, I-get-you, in-the-trenches of mom life texts."

Updated Jul. 05, 2024
woman sitting on couch holding baby

I’m trying so hard to ‘gentle parent’—but it’s not easy

Because most days, I am not even gentle with myself.

Updated Sep. 07, 2022
woman in military uniform hugging child

My life as a military mom means I’ve spent months away from my babies

I have realized that I could be given the world (literally) for free as a "perk" of my job, and none of that would matter because it would mean leaving my children behind.

Updated Oct. 05, 2022
daughter kissing mom on beach

‘Follow the child’: How a Montessori mantra changed my motherhood

“It is the child’s way of learning. This is the path he follows. He learned everything without knowing he is learning it...treading always in the paths of joy and love.” — Maria Montessori 

Updated Dec. 05, 2022
couple kissing baby

To the husbands who step up as equal parents, thank you

Given this backdrop of such unequal parenting for so many women, it’s easy to overlook the men in our midst who are actually doing the work and stepping up as equal partners. And I am lucky enough to be married to one of them. 

Updated Feb. 17, 2023
mom posing alongside two daughters - raising daughters

To the fierce mamas raising fierce daughters

"As moms raising fierce girls into the next generation of women leaders—leaders our world desperately needs—let’s celebrate the loudness and demands of our daughters that have so often been shunned."

Updated Feb. 23, 2024
child playing with toys while mom watches

It’s OK for your child to play alone

Because doing so can foster their independence—and their creativity.

Updated Dec. 05, 2022
mom sitting on floor holding son

Sometimes I don’t ‘enjoy every moment’ of raising a little one

Every moment isn’t filled with laughter. Sometimes our tears hold the most weight. But it is all of these moments that make us mothers.

Updated Sep. 07, 2022
Family photo of mom with two young sons on beach

Dear husband: Thank you for taking the picture

Thank you for seeing—really seeing—all the beauty in our day-to-day lives.

Updated Nov. 30, 2022
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