Life

Courtesy of Jamie Kenney
These Snarky Letter Boards Totally Sum Up 2018

It's been a wild ride, hasn't it? Whether it was the plethora of wild pop culture events or the frequency of horrifying political and environmental events, 2018 feels like it lasted a decade (to put it in context, this time last year we were three Kardashian babies and two Middleton babies lighter)... and it has aged us accordingly. Sometimes it's difficult to remember everything that's happened in a year-that-feels-like-it-was-actually-10; a year you perhaps started out with a baby and ended with a small adult capable of announcing "nailed it!" at the appropriate moment. In the spirit of yelling WHAT JUST HAPPENED, I'm here to give you 2018 in letter board quotes, because if Pinterest and Instagram have taught me anything, it's that everything is more precious (and palatable) on an artfully appointed letter board. And you need to have your memory jogged.

Rule number one of 2018 is: admit you Amazon Primed a letter board to your house on impulse. Rule number two is: admit that you had your children labor with their tiny, nimble fingers to punch out and arrange all those little white letters. Rule number three is: you told yourself it was educational ("hand me an E, sweetie. No an E. No that's an S. That's a V—OK JUST LET ME DO IT").

Roll the letter boards!

January

Photo courtesy of Jamie Kenney

Ah, our January selves. So young. So full of hope and resolutions and misplaced optimism. Bless your heart, sweetie.

February

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We knew we weren't going to have the time to dedicate to this. "I'll get up at 5 a.m. to work out" sounds admirable but it's the opposite of that. In our quietest, most honest moments, we know deep down that were mainly in this to buy that cute workout ensemble from Outdoor Voices.

March

Photo courtesy of Jamie Kenney

Someone is playing basketball somewhere? I know nothing about it.

Fact: every month is madness when you have kids.

April

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Infinity War changed us. Infinity War changed everything.

May

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The much anticipated royal wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markel was, for many, an escapist distraction of pageantry and glamor and conversations about whether Meghan's dress was correctly fitted.

Meghan's ascent from everyday TV attorney to duchess may highlight the notion that royalty are no different than anyone else, but the fact remains that they have far superior jewelry and we want it.

June

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*Laughs*

*Laughter becomes stilted*

*Laughter mixes with crying*

*Laughter breaks down completely into full-blown sobbing*

July

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It just... it never stops coming. How?! There was sand still on the beach when we left, but that seems impossible because it feels like it's all here. This was the summer "I have a wedgie" entered your toddler's lexicon; the summer that Desitin met sandy bums in one of the great battles of our time.

August

Photo courtesy of Jamie Kenney

We love them so, so much. We treasure them. We would do anything for them... so is it so unfair of us to ask them to just get out of the house? Not forever, just for a few hours a day. It's happening soon, right? RIGHT?

September

Photo courtesy of Jamie Kenney

Sit in traffic on a parkway then queue for a hayride while a lady in wraparound sunglasses complains about how slow those of us with children are getting onto the flatbed just so we can pick a bushel of misshapen apples for the premium of $30? I CAN'T WAIT I'VE GOT ALL OUR PLAID LAID OUT.

We did it for the 'gram.

October

Photo courtesy of Jamie Kenney

We have embraced our Basic-ness and will drink all the pumpkin spice with abandon and without shame. We know it doesn't actually have pumpkins in it, Karen! That doesn't stop it from being delicious!

TBT October, friends.

November

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We knew there was a reason we were hanging on to these maternity jeans...

December

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He's here every day. His name is Tom. When you become an Amazon Prime member, Tom becomes family.

After experiencing a traumatic c-section, this mother sought out a doula to support her through her second child’s delivery. Watch as that doula helps this mom reclaim the birth she felt robbed of with her first child, in Episode Three of Romper's Doula Diaries, Season Two, below. Visit Bustle Digital Group's YouTube page for more episodes, launching Mondays in December.