Motherhood isn’t your identity. Neither is being a wife. They are relationships. And before them, there was you.

You worked hard for years to grow into who you are, to own your sense of self, and step into confidence, clarity, and create a vision for who you wanted to be in this...

I have a love/hate relationship with journaling. As in, I LOVE the idea of it: pick the prettiest one, get my special pen, sit in a quiet space, then climb so far into my head that I don’t know what to write, freeze, and end up reinforcing my belief that I’m bad at journaling. 

...

“Those pants don't really do you any justice.”

My (then) best friend said this to me as we were getting ready to go out dancing for the night. 

I was 18 years old and had spent adolescence and young adulthood hating my body. I self described as...

She did it. This is what my husband says. 

People say, “Oh my gosh, you have such amazing kids”, and he smiles, points his finger at me and says “She did it. It’s because of her” 

He’s right. I did the bulk of the childrearing, adopting...

A conversation for context.

My husband: “What do you want for Christmas?”

Me: “Finish renovating my office?” 

Him: “Ok.” 

He's a contractor by trade so I trust him and he has This Old House type vision for our home updates so I trust him even more.

He...

In the first article, Welcome to the World Little One, we explored your baby’s basic survival needs during the newborn phase. 

In the second, What is Self-Soothing, Really? We explored the process of calming ourselves and how it connects to our sense of self. We learned that...

In the first article of the series, Welcome to the World Little One, we explored your baby’s basic survival needs during the newborn phase. 

Today we tackle self-soothing. 

Google it and you get a lot about babies, kids, and the ability to fall asleep and calm down by themselves....

Do I have everything? A glance at the clock told me to pick up the pace. Apron, pens, wine key, oh- “I’ll be right back. I forgot something in the car” I said, and moved briskly past them to the front door of our house. Pop “Damn” I muttered, knowing this meant the...

My daughter loves to sing and she’s blessed with a voice that, if she was willing to share it with the world, everyone would want to hear. 

Seriously, one day I yelled up the stairs and down the hall (as only the mother of a teenager can) Turn that radio down! 

It wasn’t the...

To Mother (v) to love and learn in equal measure.

I am an only child.

This is relevant because I really didn’t want to be. In fact, I made it clear with unnecessary repetition to my mother that the lack of a sibling was unacceptable!

My mother, however, was not an only child. ...

Me, circa 1986, doing what I love best.

A conversation with me as a child:

Any Grownup: “Cara, what do you want to do when you grow up?” 

Me, holding at least one baby doll and instinctually rocking back and forth: “Be a mommy”.

“Aww”, the grown ups said,...