Allison Cooper

Dear Oldest Son, Life these days is all about dividing and conquering. I feel more and more like I’m dividing and conquering so many things.

I so firmly believe that everyone should have the freedom to truly be who they are, without limits, and it’s important to me to raise kids who are open and accepting of that, too. Here are five ways I’m raising a gender equal child.

I was so consumed with being selfless that I never stopped to take care of myself, and it all came to a head. Now after turning 30 things have changed!

I promise that 10 years from now, you won’t look back and find yourself saying “remember that amazing picture you posted of the Christmas cookies on Instagram? The one where the lighting was perfect and you had all the right red and green props in the background?” That won’t happen, ever.

Pregnancy changes more than just your body and your emotions: it changes the “stuff” that you need on a daily basis, too. I didn’t realize just how much I needed — or how the packing game had changed — until I needed to place it all neatly into my (now) overflowing suitcase.

The last thing you want to do is turn baby-making into work. At least for the first three to six months, make this a special time with you and your partner before you become obsessed with ovulation kits and the numerous gadgets and such on the market.

Yes, I said it. I’ll sing it from the rooftops and admit the one thing that many moms might feel ashamed to say out loud: I live for nap time.

I've noticed that some moms include some pretty wild descriptors on their Twitter profiles. While some are out-there and some are just plain boring, reading them has left me scratching my head, wondering that they would waste their 140 characters on these terms.

Stretch marks. Tiger stripes. Road maps. Ant trails. Tattoos. Mommy stripes.

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