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6 days 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!).
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2 weeks 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.
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1 month ago | 
theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell
Becoming a young mom (two under 2 by the time I was 25, to be exact) taught me a lifetime’s worth of knowledge in a very short amount of time. The biggest thing I learned: It’s frighteningly easy to lose yourself in motherhood.
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1 month ago | 
theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell
Since we did the gradual potty training method with my daughter, she used training undies for the first few months to help her practice pushing and pulling them down independently without the risk of accidents. I’ve used quite a few different brands for training undies, but Pampers Easy Ups Training Pants are stretchier, softer, and more absorbent than the others. Both of my kids also use Easy Ups at night and have never experienced any leaks.
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Jan 19, 2025 | 
theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell
I’m in the midst of potty training my second kid, who I thought would be much easier than my first. But nope, turns out our genetics only produce unreasonably, albeit impressively, strong-willed children. To be fair, I understand why a kid would resist this new level of independence. It’s one of the last things to shift from parent to child. They don’t want to let us go yet, and that tugs at the heartstrings just a bit. And simultaneously, it tugs on your sanity as well.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell
OK, before the people take out their pitchforks, hear me out. Two things can be true at once: You can be immensely grateful for all the gifts given to your baby, and you can have certain preferences for what those gifts are and/or look like. Hence, the reason baby registries were created. So, if you open a present and pull out a baby onesie that says, “LADIES I HAVE ARRIVED,” in comic sans, are you the bad guy for physically recoiling? I think not.
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Jan 14, 2025 | 
theeverygirl.com | Steph Alleva Cornell
I spent the first five years of my life falling asleep to the song of Coquis in the coastal town of Arecibo, Puerto Rico—until my parents and I moved a time zone away to the suburbs of North Texas. Although I met countless wonderful Latin Americans from various backgrounds throughout my adolescence, Puerto Rican culture was never part of the mainstream in Texas.
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Nov 27, 2024 | 
theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell
They say the toughest battles are given to the bravest soldiers, but I’d like to respectfully decline on behalf of all women. Because what do you mean that I spent 27 hours laboring and pushing out an 8-pound baby but the struggle had only just begun? This is how I felt after I had my first baby, and my postpartum nurse was running down the list of items I would need for after-birth recovery. I vividly remember her looking me in the eyes and stressing the importance of picking up a stool softener.
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Nov 26, 2024 | 
theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell
You’ve worked tirelessly for (days, weeks, months, an eternity?) an overwhelming amount of time to potty train your little one. They’re finally making it to the toilet with minimal accidents, and your cortisol levels are no longer peaking dangerously high. Which means you’ve arrived at the finish line, right? Right?!Well, yes and no. I “finished” potty training my son over a year ago, but the post-training phase came with a plethora of new questions and challenges. When do we tackle nights?
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Nov 12, 2024 | 
theeverymom.com | Steph Alleva Cornell
One of my kid-free friends recently asked me if potty training is really as bad as people say. My response? “I’d rather give birth unmedicated again than redo my first kid’s potty training experience.” OK, yes, I’ll admit I am prone to dramatics. In all seriousness, toilet training my first kid did not go as I expected. But at least it made me learn what works and what doesn’t. When my son turned 2, I did everything to encourage his natural interest in the toilet.
