Costumes Every Year, My Kid Claims to Want a Scary Halloween Costume, but I Know She's LyingPOPSUGAR - Katharine StahlMy daughter has spent a good chunk of her childhood being afraid of a laundry list of things, highlights including inanimate decorative objects in houses we've rented for family vacations, any TV show
Kids A Dollar-Store Solution For Keeping My Kids Safe on Halloween NightPOPSUGAR - Angela Anagnost-RepkeHalloween is a fun holiday packed with traditions, but there are also a lot of tiny details that parents must keep in mind. After trick-or-treating for a few years, one item of concern that I came across
Halloween I'm Letting My 8-Year-Old Trick Or Treat Without Supervision, Just Like My Parents DidPOPSUGAR - Katharine StahlDuring the past six months or so — basically since my daughter turned 8 — I've been letting her roam solo around our neighborhood. If I lived in an urban area or even a neighborhood where I wasn't chummy
Prenatal Development I'm So Excited to Grow Our Big Family — but I'm Sick of All the Comments I GetPOPSUGAR - Marisa HillmanEvery time I leave the house with my 5-year-old and soon-to-be 2-year-old twins in tow, I'm told ad nauseam of just how full my hands are. Normally, I just smile and nod at strangers' observations because,
Kids Deciding Not to Have Kids Was Not the Big Deal I Thought It'd BePOPSUGAR - Zulie RaneThere are so many conflicting messages out there for people deciding whether they want kids or not. You're selfish if you do, you're selfish if you don't, you can have it all, the only purpose you have
This Simple Trick Changed the Way I Clean My Kitchen Each NightPOPSUGAR - Rebecca BrownOur family's round, hand-me-down butcher block kitchen table has seen a lot of love in its day. It was once my father and his ex-wife's kitchen table, then my parents', then my brother's, then my other
Parenting I'm Experimenting With Free-Range Parenting and, Well, It's Going OKPOPSUGAR - Katharine StahlThis Summer marked a new era in parenting for me in many ways. Both of my kids, 5 and 8, were finally competent swimmers, meaning I actually got through a few books while sitting at the pool. My son was
Christmas I Decorate For Christmas Early, Because Why Wouldn't I?POPSUGAR - Melissa WilletsIn late August, I turned to my husband and asked, "Is it too early to start watching Christmas Vacation?" "No," he replied, which is why I married him. Because for us, it's never too soon to start celebrating
Babies What My Mom Friends Didn't Understand About Having a Medically Complex ChildPOPSUGAR - Christina DaltosoPregnancy and motherhood. It was a time that was supposed to be wondrous and life changing. My husband and I went through a lot to have our first baby: eight years, three miscarriages, and we tried everything
Kids Why I'm Already Telling My Children That I Don't Expect PerfectionPOPSUGAR - Angela Anagnost-RepkePerfection is something I will never expect from my kids. They're at the young ages of 4 and 6, and I'm already letting them know that. You see, my son often acts like the stereotypical firstborn. He's
Eating Disorders Becoming a Mother Pushed Me to Confront My Eating DisorderPOPSUGAR - Kelsey BreuerI remember being in the hospital, sleep deprived and ecstatic, clutching my baby boy and thinking , "Oh my god, I'm in love." This quickly turned into, "Oh my god, what if I mess this perfect human up?!"
Birds My Daughter Made a Bold Statement in Her Preschool Class, and I Love How Her Teacher RespondedPOPSUGAR - Angela Anagnost-RepkeI walked my daughter into her preschool classroom. She looked for her name tag and picked it up off of the little table. As I clipped it onto her dress, I noticed her teacher motioning me with her hand
Homework My Kids' Teachers Have an (Almost) No-Homework Policy, And I Am Beyond AmpedPOPSUGAR - Katharine StahlLast week, I attended my kids' elementary school's curriculum night, the annual evening when parents are invited into their children's classrooms to hear from teachers about what their students will be
Motherhood You're Not a Bad Mom — the First Month of Motherhood is Just Really, Really HardPOPSUGAR - Rachel SobelI don't know that my heart was ever fuller than when I had my first baby. Or my second. I had that new mom sleepy-but-sparkly-eyed glow. I couldn't take my eyes off of her face, examining her delicate
Motherhood You're Not a Bad Mom — the First Month of Motherhood Is Just Really, Really HardPOPSUGAR - Rachel SobelI don't know that my heart was ever fuller than when I had my first baby. Or my second. I had that new mom sleepy-but-sparkly-eyed glow. I couldn't take my eyes off of her face, examining her delicate
Halloween My Kid Refuses to Trick-or-Treat, and I'm Totally Cool With ThatPOPSUGAR - Katharine StahlMy oldest child has been a dedicated trick-or-treater since her very first Halloween. She was only 6 months old and had just started eating mashed-up bananas, so it's not like candy was the draw. Still,
Great Ormond Street Hospital I Always Thought I'd Have a Perfect, Healthy Baby, Then I Got the NewsPOPSUGAR - Holly Kielty"Opinions are like assh*les — everyone's got one," laughs a colleague in a particularly rowdy meeting. Now, I can laugh about it. But at the time, when specialists at University College London Hospital
Cats Please Stop Shaming Me For How Many Pets I HavePOPSUGAR - Murphy MoroneyAs someone who's grown up with pets in her home her entire life, I always knew as an adult I'd have a few of my own. Now, five years after college, I have a black lab named Yogi and five cats. Somehow,
Grandparents My Daughter Is Obsessed With Her Grandma, and It's Becoming a ProblemPOPSUGAR - Katharine Stahl"Can I puh-lease call Gaga?" my almost-7-year-old daughter asked me this morning at 7:15, 10 minutes before her bus was due to arrive. If this were an isolated incident, I'd definitely agree to a quick
My Ex-Mother-in-Law Stepped Up in a Huge Way When I Divorced Her SonPOPSUGAR - Suzanne Hayes"Nan said that the person who dies goes to a better place, and it's just sad for us because we miss them." My son, Emmet, nonchalantly said this to me as he crafted his slime on the kitchen table. I was
Kids When I Want Some Quality Bonding Time With My Kids, I Turn to This 1 ActivityPOPSUGAR - Angela Anagnost-RepkeAs a family of four, it's easy to plan zoo trips, dinners out, and even weekend getaways as an entire unit. And often, the four of us will pile into the car and head off to our next adventure. But since
Disney Parks The 1 Thing You Forgot to Plan For Your Trip to DisneyPOPSUGAR - Katharine StahlAs most moms know, these days, a trip to Disney takes some serious planning, and mama, you're all over it. You bought your park tickets, booked your flights and resort, and made your FastPass+ and dining
Pregnancy The Bittersweet Way a Second Pregnancy Is Different than the FirstPOPSUGAR - Annie GabilletI'm 30-something weeks pregnant, and I have no idea what fruit the little baby inside of me is. Pineapple? Banana? Your guess is as good as mine. As a second-time pregnant lady, I've accepted that this
Dear Teacher, This Is What I Want You to Know About Kids From Single-Parent HomesPOPSUGAR - Suzanne HayesLast week, I wrote you a note requesting that my child be given one extra night to do the last section of her "Worldly Wise" assignment. She completed sections A, B, C, and D, but wasn't able to get to
Fertility Our Fertility Journey Has Put Me Through So Much Pain, but I've Learned a LotPOPSUGAR - Heather FloresAfter our second failed intrauterine insemination (aka IUI, where the sperm is directly inserted into the uterus), we decided to take a long break from trying to have a baby and regroup after the Summer.
Kids My Parents Are Helping Me Raise My Kids, and I'm Not AshamedPOPSUGAR - Lindsay BartisMy parents play a significant role when it comes to raising my kids. And I don't fit the mold of someone who would still be relying on their parents. I'm a stay-at-home mom of two young kids who works
The Truth About Mom Guilt That Moms Don't Talk About — That I Learned the Hard WayPOPSUGAR - Angela Anagnost-RepkeMost moms today face mom guilt. (Thanks a lot, social media.) It's a battle that we fight within us, often with no real basis. We fret over the occasional yelling, giving our children too much screen or
Halloween I Don't Let My Kids Eat Their Halloween Candy, but I Swear I'm Not a WitchPOPSUGAR - Tarah ChieffiLike most kids, Halloween was my favorite holiday growing up. Why? Candy, obviously. The costumes and haunted houses were fun and all, but my goal was to stockpile as much candy as humanly possible, ditch
Becoming a Mom Helped Me Find Myself — and I Never Expected ItPOPSUGAR - Caitlyn DoengesI've always heard how easy it is to lose yourself as a mom; you focus all your energy on your kids and their needs that you forget to pay attention to yourself. So many friends, family members, and social
