Ashlee Spear
Ashlee grew up in Newbury Park, and returned to the area after studying journalism at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and teaching English in Santiago, Chile for two years. She spent three years as a working mom, before leaving the corporate world to become a full-time, at-home parent. Her daughters are 5 and 6 years old, and she relishes getting to experience her old childhood stomping grounds through their eyes. An Enneagram 4, Ashlee enjoys reading, running, music, collecting vintage fashion magazines, and sharing a fun cocktail with her husband after work while their kids sit/jump beside them on the couch and watch "Pinkalicious." She is a whole-hearted believer that “it takes a village” not only to raise a child, but also to raise a mother. She is grateful for a supportive family, friends, and community, and is passionate about the power of writing to connect us and let us know we’re not alone.
Parenting Advice: It’s Ok NOT To Take It
All Those Questions
I remember being a brand-new mom, pacing in the pediatrician’s office with my newborn, and reading her all my scattered notes on nursing. “What do I do!?” I wanted to know. The...
How to Enjoy Christmas More
The holidays are an exhausting time to be a mother. This will be my seventh Christmas as a mom, and inevitably, it’ll be the seventh year in a row that I find myself saying...
What to Read to Your Kids This Fall
A California Fall
Here in Southern California, we’re not known for our seasons. Fall, especially, is not our forte. The autumn in my dreams is filled with piles of crunchy scarlet leaves, cozy turtleneck sweaters,...
To Work or Not to Work – That is the Question
My two-year-old sat on the kitchen floor, fiddling with a puzzle piece she couldn’t get to fit. “Damn it,” she said, calmly.
I froze, stunned.
“What did you say?!” I sank down to her level, my...
Fall Beauty Round-Up: Busy, Budget Mom Edition
Like many girls who came of age in the 1990s, my earliest beauty tips came from the pages of Seventeen and YM. These magazines often ran features in which a young starlet was photographed...
Diversify Your Bookshelves in Honor of Black Lives
I wasn’t planning to tell my 5 and 7 year olds about what happened recently in Buffalo. But a couple days after the shooting, I couldn’t mask the rage I felt. My kids noticed...
School Years in Masks, What Will Kids Remember?
One day, our grandkids and great-grandkids will ask our children, “What was it like wearing a mask to school every day?”
What I Will Remember
After nearly two years of mask mandates, in March, most California...
Ready to Potty-Train? Ditch The Diapers With These Books
To convince your child to go diaper-free, you’ll need the right supplies: A potty chair she’s willing to sit on, a stool to reach the bathroom sink, and a couple packs of big-kid underpants...
9 Ways to Sneak More Books Into Your Kids’ Lives
I’m always looking for new ways to get books into my kids’ hands. I look for ways to sneak more books into their day.
Research shows the benefits for children who are read to— from...
The Importance of Hand Cream – A Poem for New Moms
One thing I had no idea about early motherhood, is how you will constantly be washing your hands. You’ll begin to structure the day’s activities to minimize trips to the sink. You will marvel...