Alexis Charbeneau / TikTok An American mom living in Barcelona shares her adventures (good and bad) on social media, sharing insight into what it’s like to be a mom and raise kids in a foreign country. While there are certainly some major differences, some of the biggest shocks have come from the schooling culture in Barcelona. “Some school culture shocks that I’m still yet to get over so many years later, being an American mom in Barcelona,” Alexis Charbeneau begins in her video. “Okay, number one, the long days. The days are so long. My daughter gets on her bus...
How Baby Shark Pushed Me To My Breaking Point
Paramount+/Everett/Shutterstock The following is an excerpt from Marian Schembari’s new book, A Little Less Broken. I’d expected postpartum depression, but I hadn’t expected to love my daughter so fully but be so incapable of being around her for more than a few minutes without losing my mind. I couldn’t handle the sensations of motherhood. The constant climbing and pawing. The need to bounce and rock. The crying, the lack of sleep. My body was a too-tight guitar string, ready to snap at any moment. Which I did, at least once a week for two years. Just before June turned one,...
Easy Halloween Costumes You Can Do With Just One Accessory
Here’s a tidbit of wisdom I have learned the hardest way: You can be a mom who loves Halloween and also be a mom who is kind of bad at Halloween. It’s totally fair to want to be good at Halloween — the type to decorate your house to the nines like every sitcom family or create the most intricate homemade Halloween costumes for your kids (the kind of costumes that manage to be clever and scary and funny and unique but also look like you threw them together like it was no big deal). I know I’ve always wanted...
I’ll Say It: Halloween Decor Is Better Than Christmas Decor
No one can deny the coziness and cheer that comes with Christmas decorations. The tree filled with warm white lights, seasonal fluffy throw blankets in every room, and stockings hanging from the mantle create a vibe that you just don’t get any other time of the year. It’s magical — but Halloween decor is better. I’m aware that the difference between Halloween and Christmas aesthetics is (quite literally) black and white, but I stand by my statement. Halloween decorations are just more fun. Let’s be real, collections of snow globes and nutcrackers have nothing on skeleton arms reaching out of...