It’s Friday! Our Editor-in-Chief Mollie Michel shares what she’s been reading this week, the good, the bad and the ugly.
Peppermint Hot Chocolate from Souffle Bombay
I spend a lot of time browsing this recipe blog and promising I’m going to make every single thing I see. And then I don’t. But this hot chocolate recipe speaks to me, especially this time of year. Treat yourself and the kiddos with this decadent, satisfying treat during your next family movie night!
Make this rich, delicious & satisfying Peppermint Hot Chocolate. You know you want to…Do it, its worth every single calorie ? Be heavy handed with everything.
Five Reasons Moms Beat Themselves Up (and how to deal), Huff Post
We all do it. When you’re a parent, second guessing everything just comes with the territory. But it doesn’t have to. Let’s all hold each other up and recognize the yeoman’s task we have to keep the kids alive and nurture them into kind, competent grown ups. Our house, body, family, etc doesn’t have to be perfect.
At some point, it is going to be time to stop worrying about what size you are, and just try to be the healthiest and happiest version of yourself. Most of our bodies aren’t perfect after childbirth, and you can either go to 20 spinning classes a week to try and beat back the effects of time, or you can cut yourself some slack (unless you really love spinning).
My Family is a Prime Example of the Working Poor, Scary Mommy
This post awakens all the empathy in my heart. And her circumstances likely won’t improve under the incoming administration. Hat’s off to this hard-working mama for sharing her story.
For Christmas this year, we put ourselves behind on the mortgage by nearly three months in order to pay for propane to heat the house, put a few small gifts under the tree, and buy new winter coats and boots for the kids. But the tires on our only car are bald, and my child has a rare genetic condition that requires us to pay thousands of dollars out of pocket each month because we don’t qualify for any subsidy programs or grants. I lay awake at night wondering how the fuck I am going to pay for all of this.
I watched a populist leader rise in my country. That’s why I’m genuinely worried for America, The Washington Post
We must be vigilant, America. An autocracy can happen rapidly. And America isn’t the only country suffering this affliction.
Hungary, my country, has in the past half-decade morphed from an exemplary post-Cold War democracy into a populist autocracy. Here are a few eerie parallels that have made it easy for Hungarians to put Donald Trump on their political map: Prime Minister Viktor Orban has depicted migrants as rapists, job-stealers, terrorists and “poison” for the nation, and built a vast fence along Hungary’s southern border. The popularity of his nativist agitation has allowed him to easily debunk as unpatriotic or partisan any resistance to his self-styled “illiberal democracy,” which he said he modeled after “successful states” such as Russia and Turkey.
Mollie Michel is Editor-in-Chief of A Child Grows USA, a South Philly resident and a Philadelphia public school parent. A recovering non-profit professional, Mollie is also an experienced birth doula, Certified Lactation Counselor, and the mom of two awesome girls and a sweet pit bull named Princess Cleopatra. In her spare time, she is usually trying to figure out how Pinterest works, training for a(nother) half-marathon with her dog at her side, or simply trying to keep up with her increasingly wily daughters.