ICMB’s Top 10 Posts from Our First 5 Years

Iowa City Moms Blog just celebrated our 5th birthday! We are delighted to have been serving our community, sharing perspectives on motherhood, and connecting with moms for five fabulous years. We consider it our honor to create a network of support and resources for moms in Iowa City, and we could not be more proud of this community. As we have been reflecting on how far we’ve come over the past five years, we wanted to share some of our top posts that have resonated with our readers. Take a walk with us down memory lane, and enjoy our top ten posts from the past five years!

Top 10 Blog Posts from our first five years


1. Chore Charts for Children: A DIY Magnet Board

“Giving my child some of her own chores only added “Remind daughter to do chores” to MY to-do list. It wasn’t what I was hoping for.

So I decided to be sneaky about it. If I put a little more effort into the front end of things, I just might be able to reap the benefits of less work later. Here’s what I did:”


2. No Foot Too Small: Our Story of Losing Claire

“Everything about the delivery process was just as if she was alive. The same words were used. “Epidural. Contractions. Pitocin. Induce.” I had already had two healthy children, and was all too familiar with the process. I remember I kept saying, “Stop saying those words. I’m supposed to get a baby when you say those words.” And just crying and crying.”


3. Confessions of a Mom 3 Kids Under the Age of 3

“Maybe you have children close in age and you can relate. Or maybe you’re just curious about the craziness that ensues with having children close in age. Either way, read on to get a glimpse of what life is REALLY like when you have three under the age of three.”


4. When Breast is Not Best

“Now that she’s older and too busy for cuddling, some of my favorite memories of my daughter as a baby revolve around the time I spent feeding her. I would hold her close to my body and gaze down into her eyes, breathing in that sweet new baby smell and cuddling her close while she ate. Her little hands would rub my chest, as if she were telling me that she loved me right back.  She would inevitably get distracted, breaking her latch, and my shirt would get soaked. A small price to pay, really, for the bond we were making.

It just so happened that we made these warm, fuzzy memories while bonding over a bottle…with formula in it.”


5. A Dad’s Guide to Pregnancy

Every day is spouse appreciation day. The reason is simple.  As men, we have avoided the genetic lottery of giving birth.  Our debt is eternal.  Show it.  Tell her how much you love her for going through this trying time.  Buy her things.  Acquaint yourself with Pinterest.  Pinterest is your pregnant wife’s brain in internet form.  It’s God’s gift to gift-giving.”


6. Do You See? A Letter to Those Who See Me Breastfeeding in Public

“For much of our lives, women’s bodies are seen as objects that must fall somewhere on a continuum from sexy to not sexy. But now I see my body as something that is useful, powerful, capable, and inspiring. So when I use my body for something it was intended for, something it was created for, it isn’t about what I look like. For once, this isn’t about what my body looks like.

It’s about my baby. It’s always about my baby.”


7. Embryo Adoption: Giving the Gift of Life

“For us, one question drove us: could we live with ourselves if we didn’t donate? Could we sleep at night knowing we could have given someone the world’s most amazing gift, but didn’t because it made us uncomfortable? We choose to donate not because it is easy, but because it is the right thing to do.”


8. Working Mom Woes: The Sick Day Dilemma

“I felt guilty for attempting to go to work, and then I felt guilty for having to leave.

I felt guilty for not checking my work email while I snuggled my sleeping baby, and then I felt guilty when she cried because I set her down to respond to a couple emails.

I felt guilty that I was home all day and didn’t do any chores.

The guilt was worse than the overload of baby bodily fluids I endured throughout the week. Way worse.”


9. That’s What I Call a Mom Win!

“I don’t have to treasure the moments that feel like chaos and failure. But you know what I can do? I can find the good stuff amidst the chaos and failure. No matter how terrible things get, there is a tiny little part of you that knows the truth: it could be FREAKING WORSE. If you can find the thing that DIDN’T go wrong? The one lone positive outcome amidst a whole slew of negative ones?

That, my friends, is what I like to call a Mom Win.”


10. “You Moms These Days” | 5 Ways Motherhood Changed in 15 Years

Photography.

When your name was called, you were instructed to awkwardly place your blotchy-faced infant in front of a 1980’s shag carpet. For an extra $12 you were able to get a second background. This one was usually some cheesy outdoor scene or some 80’s looking retro rainbow scene. Sometimes they would stick an old, creepy looking stuffed animal in the shot with your kid that had God-knows-how-many germs on it.

Photography has come a long way in a decade and a half.”

 


We hope you have enjoyed these past five years as much as we have, and we look forward to the next five years ahead! As always, let us know how we can better serve you and bring mothers together in our community, so we can all feel more connected and less alone. Happy Birthday, ICMB!


 

Lianna
Lianna is a homesteading mama of three: a sparkly seven-year-old daughter, a joyful five-year-old boy, and a confident three-year-old boy. After graduating from the University of Iowa’s college of education, she started Wondergarten Early Enrichment Home, a multi-age, play-based early childhood program. A self-proclaimed Queen Dabbler, she has a long list of hobbies (from gardening and canning to sewing and painting), and doesn’t mind being only mediocre at all of them. She lives with her husband, mother, three kiddos, dog, cat, rabbits, dwarf goats, and chickens on an acreage in the country. The Cornally family spends their time talking about education, learning how to grow and preserve their own food, and romping around in their woods.

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