The Sober Mom Challenge

This is Part 2 of a series. In part 1, I described things I did that were, in fact, TERRIBLE ideas. If you find value in these emails, I hope you will consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions are how I’m able to make money from my writing. Five months sober, my husband and I flew to Cancun for our anniversary. All-inclusive. Drink dispensers built into the wall of our own bedroom.

If you find value in these emails, I hope you will consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions are how I’m able to make money from my writing. I hope I never have to go back to Day 1 in my recovery. One time was hard enough, thank you! But if I could go back and do early sobriety differently, I would. There’s an instinct in early recovery to prove you can handle it alone and without asking for help. I gave in to that instinct constantly, and looking back, I see the root of the problem.

If you find value in these emails, I hope you will consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions are how I’m able to make money from my writing. Last week, we packed up our SUV and hit the road to Pinecrest Lake, our annual destination over the last five years for UC Berkeley’s alumni family camp. And while my oldest is not big on bugs, dirt, and walking through the woods at night, our youngest lives for this trip to the Lair of the Golden Bear.

If you find value in these emails, I hope you will consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscriptions are how I’m able to make money from my writing. This will be my ninth sober summer. Believe it or not, it’s amazing and I look forward to it more each year. My first sober summer was a season of many firsts. First sober camping trip. First sober wedding. First sober boat ride. First sober beach day. The triggers were BRUTAL. But they didn’t have to be. They were hard because I wasn’t prepared.

The Motherhood Paradox of Drinking to Cope A note before today's essay. After hearing from hundreds of you, I finally built the thing I wished existed after I quit drinking but felt depleted and dormant — a private 12-week container for five women ready to stop feeling numb and actually feel alive again. Applications are open for The Ignite Method. If your curiosity piqued, take a look here.

Pssst: Here's what you really miss... Hey, real quick: Who wants to play BINGO??? I created a 30-day pleasure BINGO card and I’m giving away a $10 Starbucks card to the first person who completes it. It’s free, so join in here. I don’t think I should drink anymore, but I miss it, and I think it was a positive asset in my life for a long time.1 The Ultimate Mom Challenge is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

I’m tired. Scratch that. I’m freaking exhausted. I’m not just talking about the obvious exhaustion that comes with raising kids, an ebb-and-flow career, marriage, caregiving, and the mental load of holding everyone’s lives together while quietly trying not to unravel. The Ultimate Mom Challenge is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

It’s been a tough year. After my son’s autism burnout spiral, our family was finally able to exhale for the first time in months. Our whole family had been in fight-or-flight; everything was a threat—household objects, school settings, even normal street traffic. I can’t begin to tell you what living like that does to a nervous system, but I can tell you what happens when the threat dissipates. Because with time, medication, and some major changes, the burnout started to subside for my son.

I heard a divorce attorney say that divorce is simply the process of financially unweaving two lives, and it struck me. Maybe that is why quiet quitting feels like the real divorce. It’s the emotional unspooling of years of relationship yarn. Divorce? That’s just the scissors once everything’s unspooled. Snip. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. This is part 6 of my Quiet Quitting Series.

Hi guys, this is a tough one, so I’m going to make it paywalled. If you really want to read it but can’t afford it, just let me know, and I’ll give you a free pass.