A brief interlude before I get to January content: FindingJoy.net reached out to a group of 75 women who think very deeply about motherhood the question posed above. My answer pretty much encapsulates what I've been trying to do with my professional life since 2015. (I think I'm the only respondent who mentions the need for better paid leave, an end to the wage gap, equal access to medical care, etc.)

75 Motherhood Tips from Real Mothers

If there's one benign scourge on parents, it's Pinkfong's "Baby Shark" song. It's beloved by toddlers, reviled by parents, and always stuck in someone's head. So, when I found out that Wowwee was making singing Baby Shark dolls, I wrote about it — and it's definitely the most viral piece I've ever written. When I retire, they're going to write "wrote the Baby Shark" piece on my plaque.

Singing Baby Shark Toys Are Here to Get That Song Stuck In Your Head Forever

Other pieces I wrote for December:

Gift guides: 15+ Adorable Stocking Stuffers for Toddlers, 20+ Gifts Your Toddler Wants to Unbox This Christmas

And the anti-gift guide: Attention Grandmas: It's Better for Kids to Have Fewer Toys (grandmas on Facebook HATED this story)

Entertainment: The Best Movies for Toddlers, When You Just Need to Take a Shower, 'Sesame Street' Just Introduced a New Character Who Is Experiencing Homelessness, The 20 Best Romantic Movies on Netflix Right Now, 15 Movies to Watch on New Year's Eve, Because Going Out Is Overrated, See What Anne Geddes's First Baby Models Are Up to Now

Parenting-style explainers: What Is Permissive Parenting? Experts Say This Parenting Style Fails Kids, What Is Attachment Parenting? Parents and Children Share a Close Bond

More celebrations: 12 New Year's Traditions to Start With Your Family, 12 Awesome Things to Do on New Year's Day to Get 2019 Started Right, Genius 1st Birthday Party Ideas to Celebrate Your First Year of Parenthood

Misc. parenting: These Will Be the Most Popular Baby Names in 2019, 17 Parenting Memes That Make Moms and Dads Say, "It Me",

I also assigned some parenting essay from freelance writers that I particularly enjoyed:

I Raised Four Sons as a Single Mom. Now That They're Grown, I'm Off to Europe.

My Mother Died Before My Baby Was Born, But My Daughter Will Still Know Her

My Child Has a Severe Allergy, But I Secretly Ate Her Forbidden Food Anyway

Just before heading into the big, December gift-giving season, I got to do a trio of kids-room interior design stories, and, man, kids today are lucky! I'd love to have any number of these rooms for myself. See the design trends for boys' rooms, girls' rooms, and nurseries below. (I tried to cover a range of aesthetics, but I just love all the geometric black-and-white rooms!

Other stories:

Gift guides started: See gifts for 1-year-olds, book lovers, grandparents, and teachers.Also, if you ever wanted a toy Dyson vacuum that looks just like the real thing, such a thing exists. 

Entertainment: 15+ Best Christmas Movies for Kids on Netflix; 16 Best Family Thanksgiving Movies on Netflix, Hulu, and More; 24 Kids' Movies Coming Out in 2019 That Are Worth a Trip to the Theater; We Scoured Infinity and Beyond for these 'Toy Story 4' Details; 

Parenting Explainers: What Is Authoritative Parenting?, What is Attachment Parenting?

Miscellaneous Parenting: These Are BabyCenter's Most Popular Baby Names of 2018 for Boys and Girls, Rookie Moms and Dads: These 15 Parenting Books Will Turn You Pro 

Plus, a fun essay I didn't write, but got to assign and work on:

My Baby Completely Robbed Me of My Looks

As we head into November's midterms, I'm excited to share this piece:

These 10 Moms Running for Office Need You to Vote on November 6

I've been so inspired by all of the amazing women running for office this cycle — especially some of the groundbreaking mom candidates, who have done things like changed FEC regulations to allow campaign funds to be used for childcare costs or showed breastfeeding in campaign ads. I talked to 10 candidates, from both sides of the aisle, about why this election matters to mothers, and what it was like on the campaign trail with young kids.

Other than that, the holiday coverage is in full swing, so I got to do these pieces: 

Halloween

QUIZ: Could You Eat Your Way Through All of Disney's Halloween Treats?

10 Halloween Movies and Shows on Netflix That Won't Terrify Kids

And then, I didn't write this, but I'm proud to have assigned it. A husband-and-wife team wrote it, and they don't 100% agree.
Parents: Maybe Don't Buy Your Kid That Black Panther Costume This Halloween

Christmas

20 Easy Christmas Traditions to Start With Your Family

15 Ornaments That Celebrate Baby’s First Christmas

15 Classic Christmas Card Ideas to Send This Year

15 Best Christmas Movies for Kids on Netflix

20 Christmas Books for Kids That Aren't "The Night Before Christmas"

20 Books to Give Your Mom This Christmas

25 Gifts Your Toddler Wants to Unbox This Christmas

20 Adorable Stocking Stuffers for Toddlers

The Best Baby Gifts to Stack Under the Tree This Holiday

Etc.

Flu Symptoms in Kids Come Suddenly, But You Can Act Fast If You Know What to Look For

20 Best Baby Books for the Ultimate Nursery Library

How Caroll Spinney Amassed a Large Net Worth and So Much More From 'Sesame Street'

The Best Lullaby Music For Toddlers That'll Have Them Sleeping Like Teenagers

10 Adorable Mommy & Me Shoes for You and Your Kid

And then one more thing that I wrote before I started this gig finally got published. I love the mission of this organization:
Girls with Impact: Setting Up Teens for Success

Big news! I've moved over to GoodHousekeeping.com as the website's new Parenting & Relationships Editor. I'm still on the same beat, doing my best to support all the moms out there, but at a new publication.

I've done a lot of editing and updating of the parenting content there so far, but I've also managed to write some of my own stories. 

I started off with my own opinion about Bert and Ernie (having done hours and hours of "research" with my daughter).

As the Mom of a Toddler, I Don't Need Bert and Ernie to Be Gay, but Kids Should See More Loving, Same-Sex Relationships on TV.
This headline is a hard one, and possibly misleading. I wrote about what it's like to watch the show now, in its half-hour format (it's very different from what it was like when we were kids!), and what I found so beautiful about the male friendship of Bert and Ernie in an era of toxic masculinity.

Then I went back to my pop-culture roots for some movie recommendations.

20 Best Kids Movies of All Time

20 Animated Movies You Need to Watch With Your Kids Before They Grow Up

30 Christmas Movies for Kids to Get the Whole Family in the Holiday Spirit

20 Best Kids Movies on Netflix Right Now

And then a few other fun round-ups.

The Cutest Outfits for Baby's First Thanksgiving
(This includes the Carter's turkey dress my daughter's worn for three years in a row—the same one she peed on three times her first Thanksgiving.) 

16 Best Pregnancy and Baby Books for Those First 40 Weeks (and Beyond)

The 10 Best Halloween Horror Nights of 2018

Starting with the July issue of Parents, I'm taking over the children's media page. I immediately used to opportunity to get in touch with my new kids'-show obsession, DuckTales. I would seriously watch that show even if my 2-year-old didn't (but, thankfully, she's into it). But I managed to pack lots of fun stuff on this page and not just make it 800 words about DuckTales. So excited to keep doing this one in the future!

Can you spot my quick quote in this video about what moms really want for Mother's Day? (I mean it: Keep the breakfast, just give me the bed!)

For the May issue of Parents, I got to hear from eight inspiring moms who are working to make the world a better place. If you have a problem who needs fixing, definitely call a mom. 

We featured Bethenny Frankel, who chartered her own private planes to bring disaster relief to Puerto Rico; Senator Tammy Duckworth, the first serving senator to give birth while in office; Bozoma Saint John, the chief brand officer at Uber tasked with making it a company worth supporting; Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America; Ellen Oh, author and co-founder of We Need Diverse Books; Sarah Evans, who helps build sustainable water infrastructure in Africa; Theresia Gouw, a VC who made headlines recently for being a part of the #AllRaise movement for equality in investing; and Vien Truong, whose organization works to fight pollution and poverty concurrently. Phew! That's a lot of #momspiration.

Just a few quick updates today:

• Exciting news on the Parents front: I already mentioned I was handed the reins of the "Media Mix" page, which covers children's entertainment. Kids' books! Movies! TV! Podcasts! It's all happening! My first outing with this column appears in the July issue—keep an eye out!

• Did you know I help co-host a podcast? It's over at SportsAlcohol.com (and rarely talks about sports or alcohol—the name is a get-rich-quick-SEO joke gone awry). It's mostly just for fun—we are decidedly lo-fi, and our discussions always run long—but if you want to hear people talk about culture they really enjoy, check us out!

• I had some fun items in the past couple of Parents magazines. Our April issue was the "imperfection" issue, where we celebrated the gap between our daily parenting journey and the idealized Instagram version. I did a round-up of recent books that let moms off the hook when it comes to "perfect" parenting.

• Before that was our March issue, where I wrote about this March Madness "trend."

I'm usually more known as a crafter of words as opposed to a crafter of things, but here's a throwback to my most successful DIY project. For my wedding in 2010, I made the place cards and boutonnières on my own—not too shabby if I can say so myself! Everything else, well, ETSY! I think my projects are as good as the pros', no? 

The top two photos are DIY, the rest was PSE (pay someone else). 

Photo credit: Chris Ware