But seriously. I write a bit about motherhood, and identity as a mom, style as a mom, etc. in my other newsletter, Earl Earl. But I’ve always avoided too many kid or parent specific things because I know it’s alienating, and can be triggering. The whole thing is so fraught - I just tried to not really go there if I could avoid it.
But here I am, going there!
When I got pregnant with my first kid I just, POOF, got pregnant. I was very lucky. But in classic Laurel fashion, I didn’t plan, didn’t think it through, didn’t prepare, I just did. And here too - my two best friends and I were chatting about this idea this morning, and about 17 minutes later, I was setting up a new substack while waiting at red lights taking my kids to a music class. They’ve been on spring break for a week and a half already, so I’m very much in a Your Mom joke frame of mind. Nothing is sacred, nothing is TMI, nothing’s fancy, or nice, it’s hanging on by a thread but also doing it! And having fun while somehow scraping by on the bare minimum sleep and sanity.
I’m not a parenting expert - I’ve actually never successfully finished a parenting book - and I’m not a doctor or shrink, though I’ve been to see both. But I find myself with so many things to say about being a mom, becoming a mom, remembering who I was before I was a mom, and I’m happy to have somewhere to put them.
So thank you for joining me on this very spur of the moment journey, I’m very excited about it.
AND! It can’t all come from me, right? So my plan is to include essays and things from other people. Birth stories, horror stories, poop stories, you know what it’s like.
Anyway, thank you for reading, thank you for making me feel less insane, thank you for having us, sorry we destroyed your playroom.
Love,
Your Mom Friend,
Laurel