A Mom's Life

Since Caroline was in diapers, Andy has been taking a mancation. In the early years, he, his dad, and his brother took a step back from the daily grind and into a fantasy land at a variety of baseball-themed camps for dudes. In more recent years, he and his dad friends have traveled to exciting destinations across the country, partaking in adult beverages, tasting the local food, enjoying adventure excursions (paragliding, fishing, paddle boarding) and savoring a few days and nights sans spouse and kids. Since Caroline was in diapers, I, too, have spent time away from the spouse and kid(s)- for work. My memories of these trips mostly consist of stressful snowy drives down the eastern sea board with a bus load of college students, forgetting that one tiny rubber part of my breast pump and having to hand express in a hostel shower, evening networking events in a pair of heels I regretted wearing, and several super cold and very awkward visits to the Today Show involving peeing on myself...

Once upon a time, there was a beautiful woman who lived in a beautiful house with a beautiful garden. One day, the woman learned that she was expecting a baby. As the weeks turned into months, the woman started feeling like she loved the baby inside of her more than anything she’d ever loved in the entire world. And like her garden that she tended, she knew instinctively how important it was to care for this baby inside of her and to love it, and cultivate it, and nourish it so that it would grow and thrive. In order to do all of this, the woman read books and blogs and talked to other moms about how she could grow and care for her baby. Every day, she sang to the baby so it would hear her voice. She ate organic food free of any GMO‘s or pesticides. She said no to offers of sushi and deli meat. She said good bye to her morning cup of coffee and her evening glass of wine. She drank bottled water because her house had old pipes. She filled her pantry with healthy nuts and multi-grain pa...