february reblogs

I know that I’m a true (elder) millennial because I have more nostalgia than ever for the ~simpler~ days of the Internet. Instagram already feels boring, like I’ve told you before. Facebook exists in the event that I need to use Marketplace. And the only other “social media” platforms I spend time on are places with a finite scroll - my social Slack group and my neighborhood WhatsApp chat.

I’ve been spending more time on the Substack platform these days (while also not letting it drag me into a scroll hole…) and it gives me tumblr of 10+ years ago vibes. A place without a lot of pressure to perform and a come as you are mentality. It might be one of the last places that I actually enjoy on the Internet and don’t feel bad after being on.¹

So in the spirit of scratching the nostalgia itch, I’m sharing - reblogging if you will - a roundup of a few things I’ve loved reading here on Substack this month. I hope that you enjoy these pieces as much as I did.

This line from

Jules Acree

’s post made my heart stop. An observation on how we show up to care for our children around the clock, despite the incongruent sense of time between an adult and a newborn. Those 13 words are the embodiment of unconditional love.

Issue #4: Night Feeds, Midnight Thoughts, and the Lessons I Didn't Expect to Learn

Because I don’t want her to think that comfort has hours of operation.

My birthday is at the end of March and I’ll be rounding the final bend of my 30s. Somehow

Liz Tran

’s post made it on to my Substack home page and the timing couldn’t be better. I really want 2025 to be the year of fun and freedom and this felt like the pep talk I needed to carve out that space in this final chapter.

My Manifesto for Turning 40

This week, I realized that my secret weapon to this lightness is Life Skill #3: Fuck It and Be Happy. I focus on what I have, the great abundance in my life, and I willfully ignore the rest. This isn’t to say that I don’t acknowledge what’s messy, embarrassing, or imperfect about my life, but I intentionally place multiples more attention on the good stuff than the bad. I’m alive and free, and while I’m no longer young, I am younger than I’ll ever be again.

I know

Allyson Marrs

from my social Slack group where the #parenting channel is always my first stop when I need a sounding board about anything related to parenting, postpartum, etc. Allyson’s post reflecting on her first year as a mother gave me chills - where many first year of motherhood reflections center the milestones of the child, she unapologetically explores what it’s like to be the mother at the center of it all

The truth about becoming a mom

It’s why moms feel exhausted and resentful, especially while watching their partners make space for their baby without dismantling and rebuilding their world entirely around them.

It’s not about being a martyr, though. It’s such a natural intuition that it doesn’t even feel like a choice, as frustrating as that often feels when trying to disconnect or take breaks or carve out time for me.

It’s maybe why so many moms want to—no, need to—reflect on the first year with themselves centered in the narrative. We have to come to terms with what we’ve just experienced because while those first few weeks feel unending, the months that follow blur into a montage of milestones and sleep regressions and (let’s be honest) monotony until BOOM. We’re spat out at the year mark, a little disoriented, a little disbelieving that so much time has passed. And really, a footnote to the story that is our incredible baby.

And finally, I went back and forth about including this all day because the Internet truly lacks nuance, BUT I have faith in the few hundred people who read this newsletter². It’s categorically true that the conflict in Gaza has been particularly deadly for Palestinian children (over 13,000 children murdered and at least 25,000 injured via the AP). It’s also true that what Hamas has done to the Israeli and Jewish hostages is equally devastating.

This week I have not been able to stop thinking of Kfir and Ariel Bibas and their mother Shiri. As a mother myself, how this family’s story ended makes me absolutely sick to my stomach and I think it’s important for people, no matter your views, to be outraged by it. I’m not Jewish, but it’s been important for me to read these perspectives, especially as someone who has Jewish friends (many whom are mothers). Read

Bess Kalb

’s post from this week. I’m not going to pull a quote because it just doesn’t feel right to break it up.

Alright!

It’s the end of February and I’m finally seeing the light at the end of this cold tunnel. Thank goodness that spring in less than a month away.

This week’s playlist is mostly comprised of SXSW 2025 artists. My husband’s band will be playing, and for a hot second I toyed with the idea of tagging along with Zora. I came to my senses when I realized that my time in Austin would be a lot of solo parenting while Bill was off doing music stuff and that sounded like a nightmare.

All that to say, I’ve been to SXSW five times and planning my list of must-see bands was always a ritual that I deeply cherished. It was fun to dive back into that headspace again this week. This is an energetic playlist because I need something to drag me (and you?) out of these last few days of February.

Thanks for being here, friends. <3

Meghan

1. and while this platform isn’t perfect, none of them are.

2. I hope that you can understand what I’m saying: every one of these lives mattered, no matter your country of origin, religion, etc.