Mom Culture® Midlife
Our babies grew up. And so did we.
Hey mama,
If you've been part of Mom Culture for a while, you know we've spent a lot of years talking about motherhood.
The babies who wouldn't sleep. The toddlers who tested every ounce of our patience. School drop-offs, sports, mental loads, mom guilt, raising good humans, and all the beautiful, exhausting stuff in between.
But somewhere along the way, something happened.
Our babies started growing up.
And so did we.
For me, my late 30s and early 40s brought changes I wasn't prepared for. At first, they were easy to explain away.
Of course I was tired—I was raising three kids.
Of course I was overwhelmed—I was running a business.
Of course my patience was thinner—life was a lot.
And then there was COVID, teenagers, schedules, marriage, motherhood and just…life.
There was always an explanation.
Except slowly, I didn't quite feel like myself anymore.
The woman my friends lovingly called Sarah Sparkle felt like she was getting dimmer.
And I had no idea hormones could be part of the reason why.
Welcome to Mom Culture Midlife.
The next chapter of Mom Culture and maybe yours, too.
Wait…This Is Perimenopause?
If you're somewhere around 40 and suddenly wondering what the actual hell is happening to you, hi. Pull up a chair.
Perimenopause can begin years before your period actually stops, and for many of us, nobody really explained what that transition might look or feel like.
I certainly wasn't prepared for how many parts of my life could feel different at the same time.
Mood.
Sleep.
Memory.
Energy.
Body composition.
Sex.
Periods.
Relationships.
Patience.
And sometimes just that strange feeling of not quite recognizing yourself anymore.
One of my biggest goals with Mom Culture Midlife is to make this season less confusing and a whole lot less lonely.
Not by pretending there's one magic supplement, diet, workout or hormone protocol that works for everyone.
But by talking about what's actually happening—and giving women better information so we can ask better questions about our own bodies and care.
COMING TO MOM CULTURE MIDLIFE
Perimenopause 101
What it is, when it can start and why nobody freaking warned us.
Hormones Without the Medical-School Vocabulary
Estrogen, progesterone and testosterone—because yes, women have and need all three.
HRT 101
What hormone therapy is, what it isn't and what the current evidence actually says.
The Symptoms Nobody Connected to Perimenopause
Brain fog, mood changes, sleep, body changes and the stuff many of us blamed on everything else.
Strong for What's Next
Something else shifted for me in midlife.
For years, exercise could easily become another way to make my body smaller.
Now?
I want to make my life bigger.
I want muscle.
I want strong bones.
I want balance.
I want energy.
I want to be able to throw my suitcase in the overhead bin, walk miles on vacation, get down on the floor and get myself back up again.
I want to keep doing the things I love for a really, really long time.
That's the heart behind Move With Motherhood in this season.
Not punishment.
Not earning food.
Not chasing whatever body we had at 25.
We're training for the life we still want to live.
MOVE WITH MOTHERHOOD
Weighted Vest Benefits for Women Over 40
How I use mine for dog walks, what I've personally noticed and what the research actually says about weighted vests, strength and bone health.
→ READ: Weighted Vest Benefits for Women Over 40
More coming on strength training, muscle, bone health, walking, creatine, protein and the everyday things I'm learning about staying strong through midlife.
The Midlife Mother
Here's the part of perimenopause conversations I think gets missed all the time:
We're still mothers while all of this is happening.
Except motherhood looks different now.
The tiny humans aren't so tiny.
We're parenting teenagers and young adults who need us in completely different ways.
We're learning when to step in and when to step back.
We're watching our kids become people while quietly realizing that we're becoming someone new, too.
There can be so much beauty in this stage.
And also grief.
And freedom.
And fear.
And pride.
And a strange amount of time spent wondering how you can possibly be old enough to have an adult child when you're pretty sure you were 27 approximately six minutes ago.
Mom Culture Midlife isn't going to separate the woman from the mother.
We're going to talk about both.
Because they're happening at the same time.
Where the Hell Did My Sparkle Go?
This may be the most personal part for me.
I don't think I woke up one morning and suddenly lost myself.
It was a slow fade.
A little less energy here.
A little more overwhelm there.
Less patience.
More brain fog.
Less motivation.
More questioning.
And because motherhood asks so much of us, it's incredibly easy to explain those changes away.
Maybe I'm just tired.
Maybe the kids are busier.
Maybe work is stressful.
Maybe I'm getting older.
Maybe this is simply what being a mom feels like now.
For me, learning more about my health and hormones helped me understand that there was more going on.
But this next chapter isn't about trying to become the woman I was at 25 or 35.
I think it's about finally becoming the woman I was always supposed to be underneath the load of it all.
Sarah Sparkle isn't gone.
She's still emerging.
And if you've felt a little dimmed lately too, maybe yours is as well.
Mother the Mothers™
Long before I started talking publicly about perimenopause, Mom Culture had a saying:
Mother the mothers.
It came from a simple belief that has been woven through this brand for years:
We spend so much time talking about how to care for babies and children that sometimes we forget the person doing all that caring needs to be cared for, too.
Back then, much of that conversation centered around maternal mental health and supporting mothers in the thick of early motherhood.
But something beautiful happened.
Those mothers grew up alongside their children.
So Mother the Mothers™ is growing with us.
Because the woman navigating postpartum deserves support.
And so does the woman navigating perimenopause.
The mother holding a newborn needs care.
And so does the mother dropping a teenager at college.
We don't age out of deserving support.
Maybe we just need different kinds of it.
Lived Experience. Real Evidence. No Bullshit.
I want to be very clear about what you'll find here.
I'm not a doctor, and I'm not interested in pretending to be one on the internet.
I'm a woman living through this season myself who became frustrated by how little I understood about what was happening in my own body.
So when I share my experience, I'll tell you it's my experience.
When we're talking about medical treatments, hormones, supplements, exercise or health claims, I'll look at the research and link you to reputable sources whenever possible.
And when the science doesn't have a clear answer?
I'll tell you that, too.
No fear-mongering.
No miracle menopause cures.
No convincing you that the answer to being a woman over 40 is purchasing 47 supplements and never eating a carb again.
Just real conversations, good information and the occasional salty opinion from a fellow mama figuring this shit out, too.
What We’re Talking About in Midlife
Mom Culture Midlife is just getting started, and I'm building this library intentionally instead of filling it with content just for the sake of content.
Here's what we'll be talking about:
PERIMENOPAUSE + MENOPAUSE
Symptoms • Hormones • HRT • Sleep • Brain Fog • Sexual Health
STRONG AFTER 40
Strength • Muscle • Bone Health • Walking • Protein • Creatine • Movement
THE MIDLIFE MOTHER
Teenagers • Young Adults • Changing Roles • Mental Load • Relationships
FINDING YOURSELF AGAIN
Identity • Confidence • Style • Body Changes • Friendship • Marriage • Sex
MOTHER THE MOTHERS™
Evidence • Resources • Real Stories • Support
And we'll keep adding to this page as the conversation grows.
This Is Our Next Season
Mom Culture started in 2013 when I was deep in the trenches of raising tiny humans.
I didn't know then where motherhood—or this little brand—would take me.
More than a decade later, I'm still raising good humans.
They're just bigger now.
And I'm changing, too.
So maybe Mom Culture Midlife isn't really a pivot at all.
Maybe we're simply growing up together.
If you're in this season too, I'm really glad you're here.
Pull up a chair.
We've got a lot to talk about.
xo,
Sarah
Founder, Mom Culture®
Mom Culture Midlife shares personal experiences and general educational information. Health-related content is not a substitute for individualized medical care or advice from your healthcare professional.