Phaea Crede

Becoming a parent can affect people who live with anxiety in different ways — for one mom, anxiety after children allowed her to see the roots of worried thoughts as her mind's attempt to ensure a safe family. My anxiety has been with me since I can…

Reading a book 200 times is a surefire way to find out whether you love it or want to throw its rhyming llama couplets into the diaper pail. Children's books especially do a tricky dance for an audience of squinty-eyed parents and wide-eyed tots:…

For six and a bit years, I was either pregnant or nursing. That's six and a half years of hormones ruling my life, tiny people living in my uterus, and slightly bigger tiny people owning my boobs. Six and a half years where I lived in a post-baby…

The moment Harvey was born, I had the uncanny feeling that I knew my child perfectly. I remember looking at his little face and thinking “there you are," as if he was a person I’d been missing all this time. At 22 months, I described him in my…

It all began with the 7 train in New York City. Even before I was a mom, I’d notice parents struggling to push gigantic strollers into the cramped cars, sometimes knocking into other passengers, and always looking stressed. “I don’t want to do…

When I was a child, I had a terrible time falling asleep. I would lay in my bed until the wee hours of the morning completely unable to relax and close my eyes. The reason was simple: I was afraid of the dark. Specifically, I was irrationally afraid…

Being the mom of two young kids, plus working full-time, plus writing on the side, leaves me with plenty of time to work out and stay in shape. Just kidding! It leaves me with almost no time to myself and an endless supply of cheese and crackers to…

To co-sleep or not to co-sleep; that is the question. Some parents love it, some parents hate it, some parents do it because it’s literally the only way to get their infant to sleep for two hours in a row (I’m looking at you, baby Mabel.) Most…

Reading a book 200 times is a surefire way to find out whether you love it or want to throw its rhyming llama couplets into the diaper pail. Children's books especially do a tricky dance for an audience of squinty-eyed parents and wide-eyed tots:…

Well, it’s finally happened. The day I was dreading arrived. After two years, 11 months and three days; after pregnancy, breastfeeding and extended breastfeeding, the day of reckoning was upon me: I got my first post-baby period. Yes, I was without…

There is nothing as elemental as holding your sweet baby in your arms while they gaze trustingly up at you. Then there are the moments when they bite your nipple, pinch your arm, and attempt to pry open your mouth with their hands, before…

Breastfeeding my son Harvey until he was almost 3 years old wasn't a conscious decision. It was more like a happy accident. We both loved having bonding and cuddling time, especially after I returned to work. The fact that my breast milk also…

The happiest time of my life was the two years I spent as a stay-at-home mom. I was my son Harvey's primary caregiver from the day he was born to age 2. I put him down for naps and read him his first books. I nursed him through colds and teething…

Let me just start off by saying, I am really into breastfeeding. I’m a breastsleeper, an extended breastfeeder, and a public breastfeeder – breastfeeding cover not required. I still pump at work two times a day so my 17 month old can have all the…

My lower back burns. My shoulders are rocks. My spine is a rod of pain. My hips feel “tight,” but “tight” doesn’t even begin to describe how they actually feel — “twisted rods of pain” is more accurate. If a normal person woke up feeling this way,…

Remember Cabbage Patch Kids? Back in the early 1980s, our parents completely lost their minds trying to buy one of these ugly, misshapen dolls for Christmas for fear of disappointing us, their ungrateful offspring. It was an embarrassment. And did…