Nostalgia has a way of resurfacing when life feels full. As parents look back on earlier chapters, many are realizing how much growth happens quietly—both in raising kids and in rediscovering themselves along the way. In this editor’s note, DFWChild managing editor Amanda Collins Bernier reflects on a decade of motherhood, perspective and learning in real time.
I can’t open my Instagram these days without being transported back a decade. “2026 is the new 2016” is trending, and everyone is reminiscing—feeling nostalgic for life 10 years ago.
When I think back to that year, it feels like an entirely different lifetime. 2016 was when I got pregnant with my oldest son—and the last year I lived without kids. While I knew becoming a parent would change my life, I couldn’t really grasp what it would mean to go from woman to mother. As the cliché goes, you don’t understand until you have one yourself.
A decade later—much of it spent at the helm of a parenting magazine—you might think I’d have the hang of this motherhood thing. But the truth is, I’m still settling into myself as mom and still finding myself beyond that role. All these years later, I’m only just beginning to remember that there is life outside of motherhood—that I exist as a person beyond Mom, full stop. Actually practicing that, of course, is still a work in progress.
But if the past decade has taught me anything—as both a parent and an editor—it’s that taking care of kids and taking care of moms are not separate goals; they’re deeply connected. When parents are supported, rested and seen as whole people, children benefit too. The two can’t be untangled, no matter how often we try.
And maybe that’s what nostalgia is really about—looking back and realizing what we wish we’d known sooner. That idea helped shape this issue, including our 2026 Best for Moms & Babies survey, where parents share honest reflections on the places and providers that supported them through pregnancy and early parenthood. It’s a reminder that in parenting, some of the most valuable insight comes from listening to those who’ve already lived it.
Looking back at 2016 reminds me how much of motherhood you can’t anticipate. Ten years later, I’m still learning in real time. This issue comes from that place, shaped by shared experience and figuring it out as we go.
—Amanda Collins Bernier, managing editor
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