Mai Nguyen knows that we can feel two contradictory things at once

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Mai Nguyen knows that we can feel two contradictory things at once

On It’s a Lot this week, I talked to author and fellow toddler mom Mai Nguyen. Mai is the author of Cleo Dang Would Rather Be Dead, a novel rooted in her own experience with infant loss. We talked about the utter shock of losing a baby when they’re a few days old, why it’s worth measuring the placenta, which platitudes we hated the most when grieving, and how Mai moved through her grief by starting to write again.

Mai got pregnant 7 months after losing her firstborn; in the second half of the episode, we discuss some of the joys and struggles of parenting a toddler. Highs: getting new episodes of Trash Truck on Netflix, visiting splash pads, and eating ice cream often. Lows: trying to get them to eat any food that’s not woefully plain. We also talked about how she speaks to her youngest, Leah, about her big sister Gemma, and how they honor Gemma as a family.

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Someone needs to rise to meet this moment in history, and Robin Wilt is ready

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Someone needs to rise to meet this moment in history, and Robin Wilt is ready

This week on my podcast It’s a Lot, I spoke with Robin Wilt, a mom and candidate for Congress. Robin is running to represent New York’s 25th Congressional District and is the only anti-fascist, anti-genocide, anti-ICE, and anti-poverty candidate in the race. I loved that in the first half of our conversation, Robin really opened up about struggles she and her kids have faced, like her oldest experiencing severe racial harassment in middle school and her youngest coming out as trans and facing discrimination as an athlete.

We also talked about her accomplishments on the Brighton Town Board, her experiences growing up as one of only a handful of Black kids in Pittsford, the history of racist zoning policies in the greater Rochester area, and much more. I hope you’ll give it a listen and learn a lot!

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The truth about two under two: it's just as hard as expected, says mom Kat Eddy

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The truth about two under two: it's just as hard as expected, says mom Kat Eddy

Kat Eddy, mom and owner of Katboocha, returns to It’s a Lot for a follow up about the reality of life with two kids under two! Spoiler alert: it’s really damn hard. We talked about crying in Wegmans (apparently a theme on this podcast now), getting help for postpartum anxiety, the struggles of having patience with your partner during the sleepless newborn era, and more.

We played back clips from part one of our conversation and reacted to them, which was lots of fun! Part two can be listened to as a standalone, but part one is great, so I recommend listening to that if you haven’t yet.

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Kat Eddy feels ready for life with two under two

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Kat Eddy feels ready for life with two under two

In episode 5 of It’s a Lot, I chatted with mom and business owner Kat Eddy, the founder of Katboocha, about her expectations before becoming a mom of two kids under two. We spoke about a month before her youngest was born, so make sure to tune back in this fall when we have a follow-up conversation about the reality of two under two!

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