Allison Cooper

Oh yes — you read correctly.

While this final stage might take years to get to, you will finally come to a place where you realize that strong truly is the new sexy and you did something that took all the strength that you have inside you to bring your child into this world. This is not something to take lightly, this is heroic.

I’m planning ahead for the holidays, getting a budget intact, and asking some experts about how to really up the ante with my multitasking skills.

Stretch marks. Tiger stripes. Road maps. Ant trails. Tattoos. Mommy stripes.

Luck.

I’m not going to lie or sugarcoat my feelings right now — I’m nervous about going from a mom of one to a mom of two. My son is seven, so he, my husband, and I have had seven years of time as “just the three of us.”

I promise that 10 years from now, you won’t look back and find yourself saying “remember that amazing picture you posted of the Christmas cookies on Instagram? The one where the lighting was perfect and you had all the right red and green props in the background?” That won’t happen, ever.

Why the hell didn’t anyone remind me how hard the toddler years are? I’m taking all the mental notes on how to survive the toddler years.

I was so consumed with being selfless that I never stopped to take care of myself, and it all came to a head. Now after turning 30 things have changed!

“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.