Steph Alleva Cornell

1 month ago | theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell

Throughout childhood and adolescence, I was the daydreamer. The girl who spent the class doodling in the margins of every notebook while twirling her hair and imagining herself in faraway worlds. I was also loud and restless, and I never stopped talking, no matter where my teachers moved me. My mom suspected my neurodivergence, but my dad dismissed it with the excuse, “Ah, she’s fine! I was the same way as a kid!” Which, looking back, was the first red flag because ADHD is, in fact, genetic.

1 month ago | theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell

No matter how often we clean our house, we blink, and another mess conjures out of thin air. Sometimes, the culprits are the kids with their fallen snack crumbs, the new puppy and his muddy paws, the cat and her litter residue, my husband and his beard hair trimmings, or me with my coffee ground spillings. We’re all at fault, and it’s never-ending. I’ve been on a quest to find a cleaning tool that can tackle all our messes more efficiently.

2 months ago | theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell

Let’s set the scene: It’s your best friend’s birthday. You meant to pick up a card at the store two days ago, but between work meetings, school drop-off, cleaning food stains out of your toddler’s new shirt, and trying to remember the last time you showered—yeah, it didn’t happen. So now you’re standing in the greeting card aisle, frantically flipping through whatever’s left: a generic “To a Special Nephew” card and one with a dog in sunglasses that might be your only hope. This used to be me.

2 months ago | theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell

Mother’s Day with babies and toddlers is… an interesting experience, to say the least. You’re simultaneously excited to celebrate a new holiday with the tiny human who earned you this new title, yet you’re also so, so tired from mothering said tiny human. It’s conflicting to want to spend the day relaxing without lifting a finger and knowing that’s entirely impossible with little kids (unless you choose to spend the day alone, which every mom deserves to if they want to!).

2 months ago | theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell

I find myself in the same predicament every holiday. On one hand, gift-giving is one of my top love languages. It fills me with joy to put an assortment of cute little things together, like themed Easter baskets that will make my kids’ faces light up. On the other hand, I’m the most forgetful, type-B mom you’ll probably ever meet. I used to be better about remembering to plan ahead of holidays and special occasions, but the older my kids get, the busier my brain gets.