Why Back-to-School Feels Like a Whirlwind (And That’s Okay)

Welcome back to that part of the year—the one that can feel like a mix of a fresh start and a full-blown panic attack. September isn’t just about crisp air and new school supplies; it’s a swirl of emotions, and they’re all valid. Whether you’re sighing with relief or holding back tears (or both), let’s talk about why this season hits differently—and how to meet it with a little more kindness for yourself.

The Two Sides of September

Back-to-school season isn’t one-size-fits-all. It’s a spectrum, and where you fall depends on who you are, how your summer went, and what your family needs.

The Summer Mourners

For some, September brings a pang of sadness:

The slow, unscheduled days of summer are over. The laughter of camp friends or family road trips fades into memory. The lack of structure—no lunchboxes, no alarms, no rushing—is gone. If this is you, I see you. Not everyone thrives on rigid schedules. The freedom of summer can feel like a breath of fresh air, and letting it go isn’t easy.

The Structure Seekers

Then there are those who need September to arrive:

Summer = chaos. More mess, more noise, more "I’m boooored!" echoes through the house. The lack of routine can feel overwhelming, especially if you’re a parent who relies on school, aftercare, or activities to share the load. For some kids (and adults!), predictability isn’t just nice—it’s necessary. If you’re in this camp, welcome to your season of relief. But even if you’re glad for the structure, the transition can still feel heavy.

Why? Because change—even good change—comes with a mental load. New schedules, new expectations, and the pressure to "do it all" can sneak up on anyone.

(P.S. If this resonates, you might enjoy Episode 71 of the podcast, where I dove deeper into this last year!)

The Tiny, Mighty Moments That Break Us

No matter where you fall on the spectrum, September throws us back into the rhythm of:

Feeding (Why does my child only eat white foods now?)

Clothing (Where is the other shoe?)

Connecting (Between work, school, and activities, when do we actually talk?)

Cleaning (How is the floor sticky again?)

These tasks seem mundane, but they add up. They can make us:

Snap at our kids over small things.

Cry in the pantry because the cereal box exploded.

Feel guilty for not "enjoying every moment."

Here’s the truth: These moments don’t make you a bad mom. They make you human.

I’ve been there. As a teacher, homeschooling mom, and someone who once teetered on the edge of burnout, I know what it’s like to feel like you’re failing—even when you’re doing so much. What I needed most was someone to say: "You’re doing great. You’re human. It’s going to be okay."

So I decided to be that voice—for myself and for you.

Meditation for Moms Who Aren’t Buddhist Monks

I tried traditional meditation—legs crossed, counting breaths, pretending my mind wasn’t racing through grocery lists and dance practice times and I love it but it is not always easy. But here’s what a Buddhist monk told me when I confessed my struggles: "Of course your mind wanders. You’re a mom with a lot on your mind and a lot of responsibilities. That’s normal."

That simple sentence gave me permission to stop fighting my reality. We need something different—something that meets us where we are.

That’s why I created OhMama: guided "meditation-motivations for the real moments of motherhood. Think of them as a pep talk in your ear when :

Your child takes forever to fall asleep.

You feel awful for yelling at your child.

The living room is an absolute mess.

Each recording is tailored to a specific struggle, because motherhood isn’t one-size-fits-all.

Here they are: Mom Meditation-Motivations

and the good news is I will make more and you are even welcome to let me know which you would like me to create for you in the future.

With love, Adeline

How do I organize my children's craft material?

As parents, we've all been there – craft materials overflowing or scattered everywhere from the living room to the bedrooms. While crafting is an amazing way for children to explore creativity and practice fine motor skills, the mess can feel chaotic, especially for those of us, who are with children at home most days.

As a Montessori educator, I love crafts because it refines motor skills and offer unlimited creativity. However, as a mother, I understand the struggle is real. But I'm here to tell you that staying organized is an ongoing process, and it's definitely achievable with the right strategies.

The Art Cart Story

This week, I realized our art cart needed some beloved pipe cleaners refill and it also appeared I was ignoring the overflow of paper and other art material all over the place. So I had to take charge (that's my job as a mom) and here is how I'm planning to keep it organized. With the (in)famous pipe cleaners refill in hand, I'm implementing a new organization system inspired by The Home Edit. Their simple yet effective approach involves three key steps:

Declutter: Get rid of what is not needed. This could be dried-up markers, broken crayons, or old papers.

Organize: Arrange things in a system that works for you and your children.

Contain: Use containers to keep everything under control and easy to access.

Why Organize?

Organizing craft materials not only helps reclaim your physical space but also contributes to better mental health. Plus, it teaches children essential development skills.

So, let's embrace the challenge and turn that craft chaos into an organized haven. Remember, it's a journey, not a destination.

With Love, Adeline

Can You Spoil a Baby? Why Nurturing Isn’t the Problem—It’s the Answer

Today, I want to dive into a question that sparks debate in parenting circles everywhere: Can you spoil a baby?

Whether it’s about holding them too much, responding to every cry, co-sleeping, rocking them to sleep, or just being fully present with them—many parents worry they might be doing “too much.” Let’s start with the big picture. In many parts of the world, parental leave is short—sometimes shockingly short. Parents are expected to bounce back quickly, return to work, and perform just as they did before, as if nothing has changed. But something monumental has changed: you’ve had a baby. You’re now responsible for a tiny human who relies on you completely.

This pressure isn’t new. It stems back to the Industrial Revolution, when both parents began working long hours away from home. Instead of society adapting to meet the developmental needs of babies and young children, families were pushed to adapt to rigid work schedules. As a result, parenting became something to be “fit in” around work—not integrated with life. To make things more “convenient,” we created new industries and products: formula over breastfeeding, plastic over cloth diapers, jarred baby food over homemade meals, electric swings instead of human arms, and of course—sleep training over nighttime nurturing. This isn’t about judging these choices—every family is different and has unique needs. But the problem arises when these decisions are made out of pressure rather than alignment with your values or your baby’s needs. Let’s pause and ask: what do babies really need?

Nurturing.

That’s it. Not gadgets. Not rigid schedules. Just nurturing, responsive care. Neuroscience has confirmed what many of us feel in our hearts: responsive parenting builds stronger, more emotionally secure children. The early years—especially from birth to age three—are when the brain forms vital neural pathways that shape future emotional health, behavior, and resilience.

And no, babies won’t remember every detail—at least not in the way we remember things. But emotionally? They remember. Their bodies and brains record the feeling of being soothed, held, heard—or ignored. Emotional memory runs deep and it shapes their sense of safety and self-worth.

Here’s the truth: you cannot spoil a baby by responding to them. You are not making them needy—you’re teaching them trust, confidence, and connection. Mammals are hardwired to respond to their young. Human babies, in particular, are born highly dependent. Our responsiveness teaches them the world is a safe place and that they matter.

If you need proof, I highly recommend The Nurture Revolution by Greer Kirshenbaum or diving into the work of Gabor Maté and Gordon Neufeld. These experts have the science to back up what many parents intuitively know: nurturing is not weakness—it’s the foundation of lifelong emotional strength. So go ahead—rock your baby. Kiss them, snuggle them, carry them. Meet their needs. You're not spoiling them. You're shaping a healthy, secure future for them—and for yourself as a parent.

One last thing, Mama…

This kind of nurturing can only happen when you are also supported. You matter too. Your mental health, your energy, your sense of confidence—it all impacts how you show up for your child. That’s why postpartum care shouldn’t stop after six weeks. Parents—especially mothers—need ongoing support, encouragement, and community. A mother who feels heard and cared for is far more equipped to care for her baby in the way she wants to. So if you’re feeling overwhelmed or alone, know that you’re not failing—you’re being asked to do the impossible without enough help. You deserve support, rest, and respect—not just for your baby’s sake, but for yours.

With love and in solidarity,

Adeline

Why are moms so disconnected ?

In my last article, I wrote about moms needing connection because they feel lonely even if they are never really alone. They might be surrounded by children, colleagues, friends but they still feel lonely in motherhood. I was hence talking about a need for real connection with people we can be open with, other mothers or just people who can hold space for us, as mothers. So why does it feel like moms are more isolated than ever ? less supported than before ? While I can’t write a 10 page long essay on the subject, I have gathered 2 big points that keep coming up in conversations and on social media :

Technology

Don’t throw rocks at me yet… please. We all have some kind of love and hate relationship with technology. We know being behind a screen has negative tendencies. Beyond the fact that our eyes take a hit and we can get brain foggy… It is the use of technology that can represent a major ambivalent question: through the use of tech, the internet especially, we can make new connections we would never have had in real life, we can find mom groups we might relate to, that can potentially support us. I am not denying any of this, I have myself met really cool people online, moms I can support and moms who supported and validated things for me. Now… if that is a good use of technology. Since social media has taken over the world, we spend so much more time doomscrolling than ever. What does this mean for us as moms ? Less time spent on self-care (no, doomscrolling is not serving you, despite what you might feel like at times), less time spent with our children and partner, family, less time doing stuff that need to be done and I could go on. It has become so much more easier to hide behind our screen and fill our brain with images and mantras and it stops us from moving our body so we can see the sun and meet real people. And while I’d love for other people to come meet my needs and not have to do anything in return (yeah, it happens, we are tired moms!), the reality is: if we want real connection we need to make an effort, get out of the house and meet people we can talk to, hug (hello oxytocin!) and maybe even have a nice proper snack or meal in the process. I am not saying this with judgement: I am a mom with no village, I have done this more than enough to know, it has affected me. It has made me feel isolated (or should I say, I isolated myself even more). I know we are tired but there is a difference between protecting our peace (maybe even enjoy slow living) and becoming potato couch because going out might involve taking a shower, getting dressed, pack the kids etc The problem is, we can’t have support or develop friendship unless we work for it a little.

Our village is busier than ever

So you and me feel like we are busy and we might even feel like others should support us (another subject for another time: we do deserve to share the load with a co-parent at a minimum), however, if we look at families and communities as they used to be, what was it like?

Grandparents, aunts, cousins visiting each other, helping out, pitching in, cooking meals for one another… So what happened ? Well, this is a society challenge : life is busier which means, grandparents are not available to support their children when they become parents, they might still be working, they have a busy life and family has become a bit less important as individualism has increased. Same with everyone around us: they have lives and we are not a priority so if we want to have a talk, if we want support, we need to ask for it.

While I agree that we need to get off our couch to find our village and ask for support, I also feel like we are missing some amazing family, community moments by focusing on our individual only. I believe it is about finding the balance that works for you, protect your peace, being around people that uplift you and also being of service to others. You never know, sometimes they might be there for you too. It is a complex subject because all these changes the last couple of generations have gone through that created these feelings of isolation also show a lot of progress : technology has created amazing new opportunities and women being able to work and earn money is also major progress (and let’s remember some countries still don’t have this opportunity).

Solution

I don’t believe there is a one-size-fits-all answer. Each mom has specific needs. I really believe that new moms, in postpartum, with very young children need to be supported by the people around them. Feeling isolated can lead to postpartum depression and further down the road to a late postnatal depression or other mental health issues so I DO think we deserve to be helped without having to beg. That being said, part of living in this world that is more individualistic, we have to go the extra mile to keep the post-natal momentum going.

I believe this is why postpartum doulas have become so important nowadays. My love for supporting moms comes from knowing how to feels to have no one but Google answer your questions without shaming you.

Postpartum doulas for the win.

With love,

Adeline

PS: If you are a mom in need of doula-ing for you and your family in Halifax, or you know a mom-to-be, reach out, I might have a special offer for you.

Why do moms feel lonely ?

Have you ever thought or felt … ? “I wish I could go out for even 30 mins” “I wish I would have friends to share my feelings with” “I want to get out of the house but there is so much to do here and I don’t want to leave the kids behind” “I wish I could have someone to talk to “… All these scenario or a version of it are refereeing to a mother feeing lonely.

Lonely does not mean alone!

Let’s make sure we know the difference between the meaning of “alone” versus “lonely”.

“Alone” means having no one else present. Let’s be honest here, a mom is rarely alone because she is often surrounded by her child(ren). She might even live with a partner or some family and despite this, she feels lonely.

“Lonely” means sad because one has no friends or company. In the word lonely, we have more of a feeling than a physical lack of someone else’s presence.

A mother can be surrounded all day long by her children or even have a partner but she feels lonely because she has no one to share her feelings, her day with, she does not have someone to hold space for her.

This is a huge issue in our modern motherhood, we lack basics like someone or a group of people who we can talk to, share our day with, our feelings with and maybe the right people are people who understand our reality or share this reality, like other mothers, other parents.

In what I hear, read from certain moms is the feeling of loneliness even if they have a partner, a family close by, they might even have a career and talk with colleagues all day but in their identity and role as mothers, they feel lonely. They feel sad and they have no one they trust to hold space for them instead they might have people who constantly judge them, criticize them or try to fix them.

Sometimes all we need is someone to listen !

It is not always easy to find the girl friends or other family members that are here for us to support us emotionally, psychologically in the shift we got through as we enter matrescence. Matrescence is this huge transition we go through as we become mothers. While some declare it lasts a couple of years, I would argue, and I am not the only one, that it lasts for life and as life goes by we go through different seasons of our matrescence.

What does a mother need?

She needs connection. She needs to feel safe when she talks about her day, about her feelings. We all know that motherhood is a tough act to pull off and we can’t pull it off on our own with no support, physically and emotionally. We need to find groups of moms, a community that respects us and can hold us (and we can also support them) in listening to each other, in not judging each other.

Unfortunately, nowadays, it seems like we have to work for finding the right people to be our space holders. We don’t live in communities like before so the chances to find the right people are smaller. But don’t despair.

Every time I go to a circle or facilitate one, I feel this sense of camaraderie. No fixing, no real judgement, just hand holding or should I say emotional holding. Maybe you have a circle facilitator around you that can give you this opportunity to be with other mothers and leaves you with a sense of togetherness. If you live in Halifax and surroundings, come talk to me on instagram and we can set one up soon.

In the end, this is all we need. We are in this together.

With Love, Adeline

PS: For more on Matrescence, listen to episode 14 of Understanding Mothers stories podcast