In a world where it feels like you can know anything instantly with a few simple keystrokes into your AI of choice, I am grateful that you are still interested in knowing what this one person thinks.
But why? Why ask a friend when you can ask Claude? Why ask your sister when you can ask Gemini? AI’s answer will be swifter, more comprehensive, perfectly measured. It will arrive a beat after you think to ask.
Your friend, on the other hand, might take a few hours to get back to you. She may pause to think about what she wants to share, take a day to collect her thoughts. And when she does give an answer, it might not be what you expect: it might challenge you, or confront you, or push on you in the way that only someone who loves you can.
And your sister? Her answer might come in a burst of passion, a flurry of exclamation points and emphatic declarations — nothing measured about it. It will be informed by the life she’s lived so far, her worldview, how she spends her days. It might even be bookmarked with a rundown of what she’s having for dinner and have you gotten back to Mom about that thing yet?
I know I’m not your sister or your friend, but I hope I’m closer to both than a large language model. I certainly feel that way! I was honored to receive your many excellent questions, and John and I enjoyed answering them together. In this edition, we tackle what it looks like to be intentional in the baby/toddler years, navigating (and financing) multiple kids in daycare, whether I’ve ever considered being a stay-at-home mom, an update on John’s thoughts about having three kids, how we nurture our marriage in middle childhood, a report on how our summer’s really going, and more.
We’d be the first to say we don’t have (anything) all figured out, but we’re happy to share what we do know — passionately and personally, no AI need apply. So let’s get to it!
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