Our Top 12 Posts of 2019

It’s hard to believe 2019 is already in the books. We truly value you, the fantastic community of moms in our city and region. We love creating content and events with you in mind. It truly is an honor to be able to do what we do. 

It’s fun to pause and reflect on what went well in 2019 as we look forward to 2020. Did you have a favorite post this past year that really resonated with you? We’d love to hear about it!

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2019 

ABQ’s Best Bloggers ::

One of the highlights of 2019 for us was winning Albuquerque the Magazine‘s best blogger award. We are so proud of our team of writers. Their vulnerability and heart that they continually put into their content deserved to be recognized. But of course, we know we are nothing without you . . . our awesome readers! We hope to meet many more of you face to face at one of our events in 2020!

Growth::

We’re happy to report that from 2018 to 2019, we’ve seen an 33% increase in page views! Our social media following has grown as well. We have close to 8,000 Facebook likes and almost to 3,000 Instagram followers. Did you know we’re on Pinterest and Twitter too? We’d love to connect with you on all of those channels! 

Trust us. We’re not celebrating a bunch of numbers. These numbers have some really important meaning behind them. They mean that even more moms are connecting with us in our online space, which will hopefully translate into in-person community and feeling less alone in this parenting journey. 

New Contributors and Team Members::

Our contributors wrote 365 blog posts in 2019. These committed contributors put in time and thought every month to deliver content to you. What a gift they are to our community! And it’s been such a joy to welcome many new contributors to our blog. New voices. New perspectives. New ideas. New content. These are always great things!

Community & Conversation Group:

In 2019 we combined different groups into one Community & Conversation group. This group is an online (private) Facebook groups that will allow moms to connect, ask questions (mommy or non-mommy related), discuss local happenings, and attend events like playdates and meet-ups. We have over 1000 women in this group. If you haven’t joined our community and conversation group yet, you should! 

New Partners::

We’ve partnered with dozens of different Albuquerque businesses in 2019. We love introducing brands we love to our readers. And it’s such a privilege to support local business men and women in our community. 

Fun Events::

We had a great time planning some fantastic and well-attended events this year. Lots more events are on the horizon for 2020, so keep your eyes peeled for those announcements. 

Lots of Local Resources & Guides::

We love compiling local resources and guides to make your life easier. Look below to see some of readers’ favorite guides. Even more of these local resources are planned for 2020. 

Without further ado, we want to share our most popular blog posts from 2019. We hope you enjoy re-visiting them as much as we do.

One recent time when we all went out to dinner, one child desperately tried to escape his high chair into my lap the entire time. Another child dramatically whined of being tired and wanting to leave. The third spilled a beer all over my lap, down my legs, and into my new shoes. But if I’m not present, going to dinner with the kids is reportedly “easy.”

Somewhere along the way, it became customary to carry your husband on your arm. A friend once told me, “Make him come with you. I make my husband; it’s not a choice.” I responded with, “I’d rather not. He is a grown man, and sometimes, I have more fun without having him there.”

Being a teen mom wasn’t easy, and the emotional support I had was nonexistent. So I decided to share an open letter of my experience. I hope it finds someone in need of encouragement or maybe helps someone understand that teen moms are human too. 

Look at this picture. You’ve seen hundreds like it on social media. Adorable, right? Cute baby playing with her dog, the dog lying down nicely as she approaches . . .

Actually, this photo is far from innocent and safe. This dog is EXTREMELY uncomfortable, and as parents it is our responsibility to prevent this scenario from happening. This photo reveals, my friends, how incidents happen between dogs and children.

Someone recently told me that most successful people have a morning routine. It clicked. Not only do I need to make a hot cup of coffee a priority for myself, but I need to have a whole morning that is a priority, things that I do to make myself ready for the day. Then maybe I wouldn’t feel like I am drowning all the time.

Sorry, Marie. I just can’t “Kondo” my life right now. One day I will get my act together, Marie. I promise.

When I’m done having babies, I will get rid of my massive maternity wardrobe. Yes, I will pack up the eight pairs of maternity pants, seven flowy tops to hide my belly, six pairs of postpartum leggings, five nursing bras, and all the stained clothing I don’t wear out in public. And I will be so happy for the extra space in my closet!

“Also, Z is not ‘crossing his midline’ and he is going to need to do special activities to help him.” I was left speechless. My main thought was “What is this ‘midline’ she is talking about, and how did I miss this?” So what is “crossing the midline”?  

ADHD manifests itself in different ways and the coping mechanisms people use vary greatly. But, there is one universal tool that is beneficial to all kids (and adults) with ADHD. How do I know? The scientific literature provides evidence for the use of this tool for kids with ADHD. But I also know because I have ADHD.

Being modern-day moms is hard, amIright?

“You are working while someone else watches your kids? I could never do that.” This is a popular reaction that working moms get. “It must be nice to have a husband who makes enough money for you to stay home.” How many stay-at-home moms have heard that snarky remark? Or my favorite: “Working from home while simultaneously caring for your children? How convenient. I wish I could do the same.” 

Earlier this year, after exhausting our go-to Goldfish Crackers, gummy fruit snacks, and Chips Ahoy Cookies (don’t tell my pediatrician), I realized I wanted to give my children some more filling snack options. I reached out to my mom friends on social media for ideas and got so many creative options! My 5, 4, and 1-year-old boys were happy snack-testers, and now I’d like to share some of our favorite snack-stractions with moms everywhere!

I am the Mommy to 3 children who happen to be rocking an extra chromosome. I am a part of the elite group called “the lucky few.” We are the lucky few that get to be mommies to these beautiful souls. These perfectly made little humans have taught me so many valuable lessons.

My best friend from high school was diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer at age the age of 44 and died 6 months later. When you’re 15, you never dream that one day you’ll be saying goodbye to your best friend who will one day battle breast cancer. Childhood dreams don’t include this kind of fight. 

Thanks for a fantastic 2019! We have all kinds of exciting things in the works for 2020, and we are so glad to be on this motherhood journey with you!