A Year in Review

Photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope this post is finding you well and at peace. I’m sending love and encouragement to everyone preparing for (or currently experiencing) the joy and utter chaos of Christmas morning with kids.

This is my last Mommy Say F*ck post of 2023. I wanted to take a moment to pause and map my Substack journey throughout its first year. I’m a firm believer that in order to know where we’re going, we have to know where we’ve been. Plus, I love end-of-the year lists and recaps.

Mommy Say F*ck was born on February 8, 2023. The next day I published my most popular post to date where I wrote about the first time my two-year-old son put on his first dress. You can read it here.

I went on to write about the difficulty of juggling two kids under two as a SAHM, and about how I erupted into tears over a lost balloon in the Kroger parking lot when I realized it symbolized everything I’ve given up and grieved since becoming a mother. I wrote about the ongoing challenge of prioritizing being present with my kids over keeping a clean house, and about how we forgot to clean poop off of the walls in the trance-like days of postpartum. I wrote about treasuring baby snuggles before they were gone, and about the chaos of life after kids.

Then, as if that post was indicative of what would come next, I took an unplanned four month hiatus from May-September. This dry spell was the result of succumbing to writer’s block, a rough bout of imposter syndrome, too much negative self-talk (I’m not good enough, I’m not worthy, Who the hell wants to read what I have to say about motherhood anyway, yada yada yada), and trying to enjoy the summer, family camping trips, and vacation time with two toddlers.

Since September, I’ve been back with weekly posts, and I’ve loved seeing this community grow! In November, we crossed the first Substack milestone of 100 subscribers. Thank you! I couldn’t have done it without you.

In the past few months, I’ve written about the chaos of camping with kids and the importance of doing it anyway. I wrote about mom guilt, mom rage, the need to dismantle the gender binary, and a few things I’ve learned from three years of parenting.

It’s been a lot of fun! I’m grateful for this community and I’m very much looking forward to the upcoming year together.

I’m curious—what mom-related content or topics would you like to see me write about in the upcoming year? Let me know in the comments!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and onto a new year!