Allison Cooper

[CN: mention of suicide] It’s not all real. We don’t live curated lives that are built around purposeful omissions of reality...

I've noticed an evolution within myself over the past year: I’ve been avoiding leaving my house at all costs.

There are days when you look in the mirror at yourself, nights when you looks at your husband, and moments when you squeeze your son that you wonder if you have anything left to give. You have given so much to being a mom that there are moments when you lose sight of it all. Don’t lose sight of me, the person that you were before and the things that made your happy. Don’t let me disappear.

To any mom out there who is sick of repeating herself — I feel you. I feel you so hard. It’s a double edge sword, these reminders. They exhaust us.

“I taught my 8 year old daughter how to use our remote to turn on Netflix Kids (only my 11-year-old knows how to use it), and left out cereal bars and bananas for breakfast.” Nancy J. Horn, New York mom of three.

When I brought my son into the world, I thought that he would be an awful lot like me. He had to be, right? He grew inside me; I nourished him; I was the one home with him day in and day out during those very impressionable years, while my husband worked a grueling military schedule — yet there are few similarities to be found.

Clear the country bumpkin idea out of your head, because that’s not what I’m referring to here. A great plaid button down shirt can be just what you need to update your wardrobe this fall.

Don’t you think that this “trend” looks like the person wearing it woke up and just couldn’t decide on what color to wear — so she wore them all? I mean, color blocking is a great trend, but not meant to be worn on the lips. I am a very assertive person, I know what I want in life, and it doesn’t include a multi-colored sections of my face. Pass.

Parenthood is so chaotic that we find ourselves spewing words sometimes that we probably never, ever pictured ourselves saying. Then parenthood happened.

There’s so much going on with a postpartum mom, so much more than meets the eye, and we need to be aware of that. Stop talking about her body!