Life Abroad & Spain
We Moved to Spain and Everything Fell Apart (Part 1)
The part of the move nobody photographs: grief, a bereavement, apartment chaos and gaslighting, and a long battle with depression and anxiety.
A word from Momma Bird
Honest writing about raising a neurodiverse family — and finding yourself somewhere in the middle of it.
I am Amanda. I coach mothers of autistic children, I moved my family across a continent, and I write down the parts nobody puts on the highlight reel.
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Life Abroad & Spain
The Birds Take Flight: Beginning Our Move to Spain
Why the Bird family decided to move to Valencia, how people reacted, and the beginning of documenting a move away from everything they knew.
Neurodiverse Parenting
Have you heard of PANS/PANDAS?
A daughter's PANS diagnosis explained: what the condition is, how it surfaced after strep, and what treatment and acceptance have looked like since.
Mental Health & Hard Seasons
How to Mom/Dad with Anxiety/Depression.
Practical ways to keep parenting while anxiety and depression are at their worst: one day at a time, stepping away, and being honest with your kids.
Mental Health & Hard Seasons
Let Me Tell You a Thing or Two About Depression
Twenty years of antidepressants, counsellors and cycles, written plainly by someone still in it, with resources for anyone who needs them today.
Health, Cancer & Recovery
Get It Out (Papillary Thyroid Cancer Thyroidectomy Surgery)
A day-by-day account of papillary thyroid cancer surgery: the fasting, the nerves in the OR, the recovery, and saying goodbye to a thyroid named Harry.
Motherhood & Family
Mom(my)
The day the oldest stops saying Mommy and starts saying Mom, what that small edit does to a mother, and the connection she is determined to keep.
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Life Abroad & Spain
Cafes, Chaos, and Culture Shock: Life in Spain So Far as an Expat
Two months into life in Valencia: the restaurants, the bureaucracy, the metro misadventures, the smells, and two rental cars that did not go to plan.
Life Abroad & Spain
Spain. We Made It.
The family made it to Spain. An honest account of the emotional, financial and physical toll of getting there, and what arrival actually felt like.
Life Abroad & Spain
The Birds Take Flight: Beginning Our Move to Spain
Why the Bird family decided to move to Valencia, how people reacted, and the beginning of documenting a move away from everything they knew.
Mental Health & Hard Seasons
Depression. I have not missed you.
Depression returns after coming off a medication that had been working, the gnawing thoughts that follow, and the methods that help hold the line.
Neurodiverse Parenting
Have you heard of PANS/PANDAS?
A daughter's PANS diagnosis explained: what the condition is, how it surfaced after strep, and what treatment and acceptance have looked like since.
Motherhood & Family
Fond Memories of Grandpa
Why a photograph of Grandpa kept in the closet works as a daily mental-health boost, and how to recreate the memories that steady you on hard days.
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All topicsMental Health & Hard Seasons
Depression, anxiety and seasonal affective disorder, written from inside it rather than from the far side.
16 postsMotherhood & Family
Marriage, children growing up, grandparents, family history, and the ordinary domestic chaos in between.
15 postsHealth, Cancer & Recovery
Thyroid cancer, surgery and life afterwards, autoimmune illness, and walking alongside someone through treatment.
7 postsNeurodiverse Parenting
ADHD, ODD, PANS/PANDAS, anxiety and learning differences — diagnosis, school, therapy, and building a home that fits the child you actually have.
6 postsLife Abroad & Spain
Deciding to leave, the move to Valencia, and what expat life has actually been like — the good days and the ones that fell apart.
4 posts
From the archive
Older writing that still holds up, going back to 2017.
Everything, in one place
48 posts written since 2017 — neurodiverse parenting, mental health, cancer and recovery, family, and a move to Spain. Nothing is hidden.