What an amazing year it has been for BurlingtonVT Moms Blog! From seeing our posts go viral to passing the torch to new ownership, this year has been a whirlwind! We are so thankful to the entire community that we continue to build and for all of our amazing writers that make this blog what it is. Without all of you we wouldn’t be here, and for that we are so very grateful. Over the course of 2015, BVTMB had over 1.5M page views (more than tripling 2014), and reached 1,080,000 unique readers. We also hosted 14 unique events this year and added our free playdate Summer Park Hop Series! We can’t wait to see what 2016 will bring!
As we head into 2016 we wanted to take a moment to share our top 12 most popular blog posts that were published this year.
These are stories of parenting, tragedy, health, mommy thoughts, raw and personal emotions, and sex. These are stories written for our community, by our community. These are stories written by our friends, our neighbors, or perhaps strangers that you can relate too. These are stories of our experiences, and more so our hope to share those experiences with all of you. We hope you enjoy re-visiting them as much as we did!
1} Ten Reasons to Dismiss Someone From Your Life
“This was a new idea to me, a foreign concept. I sat in my therapist’s office, drying my eyes, as she gave me permission to dismiss certain people from my life. I went home and ended a life-long relationship with the main offender. It was difficult at first, but I soon noticed how bright my life was without that storm cloud over my life, without the possibility of this person diving into my day at any moment and spreading negativity. Suddenly, “You are dismissed,” became my silent war cry. While avoiding certain acquaintances was often convenient and temporarily preserved my sanity, after becoming a mom, it became absolutely necessary to completely remove certain people from my life.” – Gretchin Gifford
2} Dear Playground Mom
“My daughter, Ellie, is 3-years-old. She’s unusually tall for her age. As in, literally off the doctor’s office development chart. She is taller than your 5-year-old son… The other kids tend to politely run past her, to carry on like normal 5-year-olds. So, I wasn’t surprised when your son rushed up behind her on the tire-ladder only to find that she was slowly climbing, focusing on her footing. I cringed as I felt her fear of being rushed when she was still learning, and I waited for your son to climb past her, as any normal 5-year-old would. Before I could step in to steady her, something happened that stopped me in my tracks. Your son didn’t rush her. He stopped. He waited, and he noticed something I hadn’t – her blue rain boot was stuck in-between the tires. He carefully removed it for her.” – Gretchin Gifford
3} May Love and Peace Find You: For Lara and Brendon
“I’ve been waking up at 5:30 AM no matter what time I go to bed. I find myself unable to go back to sleep because I can’t stop running through my previous day and thinking about all of the experiences I had with my children that Lara Sobel and Brendon Cousino won’t get to have with theirs. As parents, we imagine these milestones all of the time. We think about supporting our kids through each measly momentous occasion of life. We should be there. You should be there. They should be there. It is not fair that they can’t be. But they won’t. Be. There. However, we will all be there for them. We will hold their girls in our strong community. We will think of them when we are tucking our kids in. We will find grace in the grizzliest of arguments with our pre-pubescent girls. We will remember that they should be there, but that they are not. And in that, we will honor their lives.” – Maggie VanDuyn
4} In Defense of the Clean Mom
” When this article about What Normal Looks Like went viral, I was torn. On the one hand, I celebrate with moms who feel free from the perfection monster. The need to do it all and be it all and have a sparkling house and a sweet smile while doing it can be crushing. At the same time, however, I felt a little perturbed. See here’s the thing, I’m a clean mom. When I read that for most moms normal is “Your sink is full of dishes, your dishwasher is full of dishes, your table and counter are full of dishes, and you can’t find a clean spoon.” I kind of cringed. That does not sound normal to me. I mean, what is normal anyway? We’ve been raised different ways, in different cultures, by different families. Is there really a “normal” when it comes to home life?” – Tasha Lehman
5} When You Told My Kids to Be Quiet
5} “You called to me from your side of the fence that borders our backyards. Although at the time my family had lived in our house for over a year, I wouldn’t have recognized your face at the market. You never welcomed us to the neighborhood or asked my children’s names. We had one brief conversation when you informed me that some mulch in my gardens would do wonders for the weeds. Gee, thanks. And now, our second meeting. You asked me to quiet down my kids. Told me that you and your husband couldn’t enjoy your wine together and were forced to take your cocktails inside. I was horrified and quickly apologized and herded my children inside. On a perfect, sunny May day at 5:00 pm. And at once, they all broke out into sobs. My instincts kicked in and I knew I had messed up.” – Tricia Kennedy
6} The Stages of Sex After Kids
“It’s amazing how much your life changes after having kids. What’s even more fascinating is how much your sex life can change. One day you can’t keep your hands off each other and then before you know it, you can’t remember the last time you did it and when he gives you “those eyes” you scrub baby food off your face and hope he won’t notice how hairy your legs are. (He won’t.) Before you have kids you can have sex anytime you want. Not feeling up to it? Don’t worry, you can do it tomorrow. Or the next day. Maybe even in the daylight. This is the honeymoon stage and it. is. glorious.One day you decide you would like to start trying to have kids. This is more like robot sex. It can be very planned and no, you don’t always just do it like rabbits. You have to follow the ovulation calendar and do it when it says to. No sooner, no later. “Save that for ovulation week, dear!” You say with a wink. Romance – 0 Procreation – 1″ – BVTMB Team
7} My Anxious Child: 6 Things that Work
“She doesn’t like it when I leave; runs screaming after me like armed henchmen are dragging me out the door with murderous intentions. “Mommy!” she shrieks, oceans of hurt pouring down, “Bye! I’ll never stop loving you!” Her face is a storm of rage and abandonment, rendering her words more startling than sweet, and it nearly breaks me every time. She’s an anxious child. I’ve made some changes to the way I relate to her. She’s doesn’t know what anxiety means, only feels it invading her peace without the language or tools to manage it. I want to give those things to her. Here are some things that have worked for us.” – Christin Pounds
8} An open letter to my son, his dolls, and his tutu
“It turns out you didn’t like cars (sure you will push them around sometimes but they never appealed to you when given the choice). From the day you started showing your personality you always gravitated to less “boy-like” toys altogether. Questions started to arise and most importantly we wanted to be sure that we were on the same page with the way we wanted to raise you. Do we support your love for tutus, princess dresses, barbies, mermaids, poneys, and really anything pink or purple. Yes, yes we do. In fact f*&$ yeah, we do. So let’s get this straight. We love you, and we will ALWAYS support you for whatever choices you make. And hopefully, our support and love will be enough for you to stay confident in your choices. I fear the day you realize other people may not find your choices acceptable and hope that we can prepare you to stand up for yourself in every way possible.” -Guest Author
9} Confessions of a Homebody Mom
“Please don’t misunderstand me – kudos to you moms who take your kids on outings! You are providing them with incredible experiences and I commend you. I just prefer to stay home most of the time, and I am trying not to feel so guilty about that anymore. Instead of frequent trips to the playground, my kids will play in our backyard. In lieu of science center visits, we will do vinegar and baking soda experiments at our kitchen table. And although they occasionally go on “play dates” to friends’ homes, I enjoy just having them here with me and visiting with their cousins. They learn so much just through playing on their own, and I want them to have the experiences of independence and creativity that my husband and I had as children.” – Elysha Thurston
10} 30 Days of Sex? Yes, Please.
“I could tell right away that he was excited but skeptical that I would really follow through with it. Let’s just say I have made promises in the past, like oral sex on a certain day etc., and when it came to it I was just too exhausted or the baby was hooked to my breast all night or something else came up. We started off strong on Christmas night. Actually the next 5 days were great. Some nights we went to bed early just to make sure I wouldn’t be too tired. On the fifth day, I was thinking, “this is wonderful, I can do this, maybe for forever, what was my problem?” Then the sixth day came, baby was up all night, fussy all day, and I literally couldn’t keep my eyes open once I hit the pillow, I also may have had a glass or two of wine. Still I thought, “this is okay, I still have three more days as a buffer.” – BVTMB Team
11} 50 surefire ways to tell your child is Spirited
“Now don’t get me wrong. I LOVE the crap out of this kid. Zayne is probably the funniest human being I have ever met and he melts my heart to its core every time he smiles. He’s full of energy, hilarious, loves to play, and loves to be the center of attention. He’s our little ham. I think part of being spirited also includes being an exceptional person that just has so much emotion they don’t know what to do with it yet. Zayne is responsible for at least 3 other babies (due to his overwhelming cuteness) and everyone we meet that comes in contact with him is smitten. But he’s tough. Tough in a way I could not have imagined had I not had kids. Thank goodness he was our second.” – Tara Robertson
12} I Have Breast Cancer
” My body betrayed me last week when I found out that I have cancer. Breast cancer. What? But it doesn’t run in my family, I said. I’m only 35, I said. I breastfed 2 babies and pumped for another, I said. I am not the demographic. I am an outlier. What. The. F**k. I have always hated my boobs. They are gigantic. When I was pregnant with my daughter they grew to an I cup. I for “I have gigantic boobs”. Just cut them off, give me a nice set of perky B’s and let’s move on! Take ‘em. I don’t care. Only some of you will know the emotions that accompany this kind of news. I, being the stubborn and terrible patient that I am had gone to this doctor’s appointment alone. I had not told a soul, not even my amazing husband, that I had discovered some funky bumps on my breast and had been referred to this Breast Surgeon-The Breast Guru, my primary doctor called her. I didn’t tell anyone because I thought it would be nothing and I did not want to unnecessarily worry anyone. I thought, at the most, this was a little skin abnormality and they would scrape it off. Never in my wildest nightmares did I think CANCER.” – Maggie VanDuyn
Worth a Read As Well :: Other Popular Posts
Top 20 Creemee Spots around the Champlain Valley – BVTMB Team
Please Stop Body-Shaming My Baby Girl – Britta Eberle
Guide to Vermont Summer Camps 2015-2016 – BVTMB Team
Clothing Crisis: I Am Choosing To Dress My Daughters Appropriately – Jenn Foster
Tips for Completing a Whole30 While Breastfeeding – Meredith Bay Tyack
Exercising While Fat – Jemima Talbot
10 Ways to Use Humor to Combat the Terrible Twos, the Horrible Threes, and the Horrors Beyond – Gretchin
My 5 Year Old Was Called The “B” Word . . . – Jenn Foster
Car Seat Safety and Winter Clothing – Josilyn Adams
I’ve almost killed my kids, many times. – Meredith Gordon
The Five Reasons You’re Probably a Better Mom than I am… And the One Reason You’re Not – Yvonne Eastman
Rear Facing Interview with a Child Passenger Safety Technician – Beatriz Jarvis
My life as a single mom – Jemima Talbot
