Baby · a letter
Nobody is coming to tell me I’m doing this right
Why the first months feel like an exam with no answer key, and the one small decision that gives you back a surprising amount of yourself.
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Home · Letters
Letters from Momma
Something to read tonight.
Short pieces for the questions you’re asking at 9 p.m. Each one takes a few minutes to read, and each one leaves you with something to use tonight.
Baby
the first eighteen months · the Baby page
Baby · a letter
Breast, bottle, both: am I failing if…?
Why feeding turned into a test of you, the only two measures that count, and the decision to leave alone tonight.
Read the letterBaby · a letter
Sleep training or not: how do I choose?
Why the nights fall apart, the three ways a house can answer a baby at night, and the one rule above every plan.
Read the letterBaby · a letter
Why does my baby’s crying make me feel like this?
What a cry can land on in you, what answering your baby really means, and how to keep yourself in the first year without ever leaving them unanswered.
Read the letterKids
from the Twos to the edge of the teens · the Kids page
Kids · a letter
Why does bedtime take an hour?
Because, night by night, it’s started paying out. Here’s how a twenty-minute bedtime turns into ninety, and three moves for tonight.
Read the letterKids · a letter
Consequences or punishment? How to tell the difference
The one tool a whole generation of advice quietly dropped, the half-second test that keeps it kind, and the line you never cross.
Read the letterKids · a letter
The meltdown on the store floor: what do I actually do?
You can’t make a storm stop. Here’s what you can do: the one-breath read, three moves while it’s happening, and the line you hold.
Read the letterKids · a letter
Siblings fighting again: do I step in or stay out?
Why settling every fight makes them fight more, the three questions to ask before you walk in, and the one to stop asking.
Read the letterKids · a letter
I yelled at my kids again. Now what?
Why a small “no” can set off something so big, the four moves before you go over the edge, and how to come back after.
Read the letterTeens
eleven to eighteen · the Teens page
Teens · a letter
How much freedom is too much?
Not an age, a pace. The three jobs you’ll hold between eleven and eighteen, how to hand over a key on purpose, and the few that never hand over.
Read the letterTeens · a letter
The homework standoff: whose work is it?
Why the same fight comes back every evening, what it’s really about, and the one move for tonight.
Read the letterTeens · a letter
Should I check my teenager’s phone?
When looking is leading, when it needs a reason, and what to do tonight with the phone in your hand.
Read the letterTeens · a letter
My teenager won’t talk to me. What do I do?
Why reaching harder tends to push them further, the three refusals that keep the way back open, and the one time the rules change.
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Let me keep you company.
A few letters a month, for the years you’re in. Tick every stage that’s yours.