I am going to hold your hand while I say this, because I know the sheer panic of looking down the barrel of a long summer with a house full of kids and no electronic babysitter: Taking the screens away is actually easier than managing the screen time. When Nick and I decided to pull the plug

When you are raising five kids, watching the birth order dynamics play out in real-time is absolutely wild. The oldest usually carries the weight of responsibility. The middle child is the classic peacemaker. The baby gets away with absolutely everything. But the 4th child? The 4th child out of fiv

Packing a cooler for seven people is basically a tactical military operation. 🤣 Whether we are loading up the car for a local sandy spot, spending the afternoon at the local pond, or taking the ferry over to Nantucket for a full day trip, getting five kids to the water is an Olympic sport. But k

Let’s be real for a second… The postpartum period is breathtakingly beautiful, but it can also feel incredibly overwhelming, exhausting, and isolating. You bring this precious baby home, and suddenly you’re expected to have all the answers while running on zero sleep and navigating a completely new

Let’s be incredibly real for a second: summer break with five kids is not for the faint of heart. We decided to do a completely 90s-style, screen-free summer this year, which means Nick and I have had to get very creative about getting everyone out of the house. When you have five distinct perso

If you had told me a year ago that I would willingly ban screens for my 5 kids for the entire summer, I would have laughed. But here we are, fully embracing a 90s-style summer, and it has completely shifted the energy in our house. A lot of people ask me how we actually manage the logistics of a

Let’s be completely honest: by the time Friday at 5 PM rolls around, my brain is usually functioning at about ten percent capacity. Between the intense study sessions for my upcoming clinical exam this September and promoting Marésel Grace Co., transitioning into weekend mom-mode requires a foolpro

I did not realize how much of myself I would lose when I became a mother. Somewhere between the night feeds and the endless needs, I stopped being a person with a name and became "mama" to everyone around me. And I mean everyone. People would hand me gifts addressed to ME, my name writte

Listen, with my 5 kids running in a million different directions, finding an outing that actually keeps everyone happy (and doesn't cost a fortune) can feel impossible. Enter: the local pond. It has become my ultimate parenting hack for a peaceful afternoon during the summer! Here are 5

I have 5 littles, so my cup gets poured out all day long. Snacks, boo-boos, refereeing, being needed by everyone at once. Some days I get to bedtime and realize there is nothing left in me. But I have learned you do not always need a spa day or a weekend away to feel human again. Most days it i

☀️ Splash Pad Season is HERE! 💦 10 Reasons to Take Your Little One ASAP! 🍋 Summer is officially in full swing, and if you haven't added splash pads to your weekly rotation yet, this is your sign! 🪧 Grab the sunscreen, pack those reusable water diapers, and get ready for the ultimate summ

Happy Fourth of July. Today the country turns 250. Two and a half centuries of a nation still learning, still growing, still becoming who it hopes to be. And somewhere in the middle of the fireworks and the cookouts, there is a quieter kind of freedom that rarely gets celebrated: the freedom

When I had my first child in my 20s, I heard all the opinions—You’re too young, Live your life first, Don’t you want to travel?, Wait until you’re more settled… But now, after five kids and a whole lot of lived experience, I look back and realize: Having kids in my 20s shaped me in the deepest w

Let’s be honest—there’s something about summer that feels like a deep breath for the soul. Maybe it’s the longer days. Maybe it’s the way life slows down just enough to remind us what matters. Or maybe it’s because summer is the season that brings us back to the simplest joys—the kind you can’t

Let me be honest with you for a second. As a mom of 5, most days feel like I’m constantly putting out fires. Someone always needs something. Someone is always hungry, crying, fighting, spilling, or running around leaving a trail behind them. It’s like living in a tiny, beautiful hurricane that

Unpopular Opinion (That More Parents Need to Hear): If your kids aren’t in school, they should be outside. Every single day. For hours. And no, this isn’t just a throwback to “the good old days” nostalgia. It’s a critical need for childhood development—and it’s something modern parenting is slo

Why Mommy & Me Days Matter (Even When You Have a Whole Squad at Home) As a mom of 5, life is busy—and that’s putting it lightly. There’s always someone who needs a snack, a diaper changed, help finding their shoes (even though they were literally just wearing them), or a hug after a hard mo

The Small Moments Are the Big Moments (Even If We Don’t Realize It Yet) Some days are loud. Some days are rushed. But then there are moments like this—where everything slows down. Bare feet poking out of a car seat, crumb-covered fingers holding onto the last bite of a snack, and that little