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Ambrosia Brody

Ambrosia Brody is a full-time editor, journalist and mother to two spirited daughters. She lives in Southern California in a beach city but hates the sand; enjoys people watching but hates small talk. Her time is spent raising two strong-willed daughters, trying to watching Netflix with her husband and reading celebrity news. She started to blog at Random Aspects of (My) Life when she realized everything she knew about parenting was wrong. Connect with her at ambrosia_brody@yahooo.com, Facebook or on Twitter.

Loving My Postpartum Body Was Hard Because I Never Got Over Puberty

Women are instructed to do lots of things, especially new moms. If we aren’t being told to “cherish every moment” then we’re instructed to “sleep when the baby sleeps,” or “embrace your new body” after baby. But here’s the thing, feeling…

We Should Celebrate Maternity Leave Like We Do Sabbaticals

Looking down the barrel of a three-month leave from work made me feel more anxiety than excitement when I started planning maternity leave with my first daughter. Instead of looking forward to spending time with my first baby, I worried time away…

It's Awesome Being Pregnant On Thanksgiving Except When You Go Into Labor

My mom and tia were coming over to cook the turkey and the in-laws were coming for dinner. I was going to enjoy eating for two on the greatest eating day of the year. That was the plan, anyway. Instead, I was trapped in bed in a hospital gown and…

I Worry About My Girls Being Rejected, Like I Have Been

Watching my daughters run to little kids playing in the open space area in our local outdoor mall stirs up nervous butterflies in my stomach. Will the little girls accept my daughters' request to play or will they snub them in the way that little…

Anxiety Is Universal For New Moms — But Here's What Happens When It Gets Out Of Hand

As a first-time mom there were countless times that I spent my nights researching potential risks, activities, places or situations that could bring harm to my daughter. An outbreak of hand-foot-mouth disease meant we stayed away from the splash…

This Is What Happened When I Ditched The Diaper Bag

There's a conversation in Boondock Saints that goes something like, "Name one thing you gonna need a rope for." "You don't f*ckin' know what you're gonna need it for. They just always need it." I could say the same thing about my diaper bag. I…

I Tried Toddler Tantrum Techniques On My Own Anxiety, & I Have A New Appreciation For Tantrums

If you take a look at my hands in the days leading up to a big trip, an important meeting, a play date with a new mom, you’ll see painfully short nails and ripped cuticles. Not an awesome sight, I know. I’ve been a chronic nail biter due to social…

Here's What A Diversity Awareness Instructor Had To Say About Teaching Your Kid How To Be Inclusive

Eight thousand Starbucks stores closed on May 29 for "racial bias" training, often referred to as "diversity awareness" training, after two black men were arrested in April for simply waiting in a Philadelphia Starbucks for a friend to arrive…

If You Literally Feel Like A New Person After Having Your Baby, Here's Why

I can pinpoint the day I knew I was pregnant. It wasn’t the sleepiness or nauseousness brought on by the smell of coffee that tipped me off. The "aha" moment came when I started crying while watching the documentary Waiting For Superman. When the…

This Is Why You Feel So Bad About Your "Choice" To Be A SAHM Or Working Mom

Ask any U.S. mom why she decided to return to work, or stay at home, and I guarantee she has an Excel file tabulating the income versus child-care tradeoff, and a mental ledger of concerns about career momentum versus "quality time while they're…

Am I Too Old To Have Another Baby?

I didn’t think waiting until I was 30 to have my first baby would really matter. I mean, yes I would have liked to have started a family when I was in my mid-20s but it took some time to get a career going, get married, travel some and actually feel…

Labor Is Kind Of A Nightmare When You’re An Introvert

I have to admit that I was extremely self-conscious when I went into active labor with my first daughter. Although I knew that the nurses assisting me had most likely seen so many bare breasts, butts, and vaginas that they could care less how mine…

I Don't Care If It's Body-Positive, I Hate Being Naked In Front Of My Kids

The worst part is when I come out of the shower and my soon to be 3-year-old asks to touch my nipple. Are you freakin’ kidding me, kid?! Haven’t you done enough to my breasts? I am (technically) all for modeling body positivity, but nipples alive!…

I Gave Up Sleep For A Year Until The Risk Of SIDS Was Lower

When you announce you’re pregnant, people start throwing little tidbits of advice your way as though you actually want to hear it. After people starting freaking me out about all the negative aspects of having a baby (tearing, deflated breasts,…

How To Pack The Ultimate "Silky Mom" Hospital Bag

If you're halfway silky, you already know that some hospitals have Starbucks inside of them. You might have even chosen which hospital you'd like to deliver at based on whether or not it has a Starbucks. This post is for you. While plenty of…

I'll Admit It, I Was Skeptical About Vaccines

The controversy surrounding vaccinating was in full-force as I went from thinking, "kids, maybe?" to scheduling sex for the optimal chances of conception with the precision of a NASA engineer. Jenny McCarthy’s anti-vaccination arguments stuck with…

What "Overprotective" Moms Get Right About Sleepovers And Child Abuse

Are slumber parties dangerous? Now that everyone in America seems to have less than six degrees of separation from the nearest sexual predator, it's hard not to look at the rash of abuses and panic about sending your kids, well, anywhere. Gymnasts,…

Instagram Can Be Weirdly Triggering For Working Moms

Every day of childhood is special. Even if it's just a funny thing my daughter says during bath time, or her sister's sleepy but happy face when I go in to get her up in the morning, these little moments are precious to me. They're not the moments…

Dear People Who Tell My Daughter To Be "Ladylike," Is It, Or Is It Not, 2017?

Dear people who tell my daughter not to sit "like that," Although I understand that you believe your request for my daughter to act “ladylike” is rooted in some helpful gender norm that dictates what sets a “proper” girl apart from an…

I Wear Sexy Halloween Costumes Around My Kids, & I'm Not Sorry

Before Halloween was sexy, it was scary. As a kid, Fright Night filled me with fear of scary movies, fear of the dark, fear of something jumping out at me, fear of showing off too much of my body. Nothing set off the fight or flight response quite…