motherhood is lonely

At 25, most of my friends are still single – let alone married with a baby. I live a time zone away from my own mother, and even Scott (a great dad himself) can’t always understand my way of thinking now. And no matter how many play dates are scheduled, park trips are planned, nursing mother groups are attended, at the end of the day I’ve still spent every waking hour with an eight-month-old. An unbelievably cute eight-month-old, but an eight-month-old nonetheless.

Young motherhood can be isolating.

Lest I come across as complaining, I wouldn’t trade this life for anything. But sometimes (like during the middle-of-the-night wakings and in-the-height-of-teething moments) I need a little sympathetic solidarity. And so (when it's too late for Skype and walks to the park) I turn to these women:

Cup of Jo - When we first found out we were having a boy, I tearfully gave up my Gilmore Girl visions of late-night mother-daughter chats and shared closets. This post by Joanna Goddard made me so excited about having a boy. Her ever-stylish Manhattan-based motherhood I can only dream about.
 

Orangette – It’s technically a food blog, but Molly Wizenberg writes as beautifully about birth and babyhood as she does about cooking.

Briana Meade – A fellow young mom, Briana blends her faith and motherhood through posts of incredible honesty and truth.

And then there is my Instagram feed, with all of its carefully curated images that somehow both inspire and refresh, from the creative and comical, imaginative and artistic, fun and poignant. 

Ironically enough, this virtual world is keeping me grounded. 

-Eleanor

Note From Scott: Just give me my Deadspin.