The Newsletters You Loved (and Didn't) in 2024
Holy sh*t, what a year.
A quick reminder that my 25% off end-of-year sale ends this Friday! You can use it for gift subscriptions, too!
My goodness, it’s been a year. I was thinking yesterday about what I was doing this time last year, and that memory feels like it’s from at least five years ago. This year included plenty of momentous world events, and it was a doozy for me personally, too. In 2024, I separated from my husband of almost 15 years, and I also wrote a book. I finished a major home renovation and became the parent of a teenager. I kind of can’t believe all that happened over the span of 365 days, but well, I guess it did?
I will admit, these huge life events took some of my attention away from this newsletter at times. I’ve had to lean into my own advice a lot this year and take more breaks, set more boundaries, and ask for more help. This included asking for your understanding when I had to stop posting as frequently as I’d have liked in order to take care of myself and my family. I lost some paid subscribers because of it, but many of you stuck with me, and I really appreciate it.
Still, despite everything, free subscriptions to this newsletter have continued to grow. At the end of 2024, Is My Kid the Asshole? has 28,000 subscribers and over 38,000 followers. Sometimes, I really can’t wrap my head around the fact that there are so many smart people reading what I have to say. I am grateful for each and every one of you.
I also have some exciting plans for this space, which I’ll be unveiling in January. So stay tuned!!!
Now I want to share the newsletters you enjoyed the most this year. (I’ll also share my most egregious flop.)
The essay that brought me the most new free subscribers
I’m thrilled that the essay that inspired many of you to subscribe is this one, because a major part of my mission is to help parents feel less guilt and shame. So much modern parenting advice is primed to make us feel like we owe everything to our kids and that we should be centering them all the time (including when they are not with us) — and that’s simply not true. I’m happy this essay, which I wrote when my kids were at overnight camp and I realized I didn’t miss them, resonated so deeply with you.
The essay that was shared the most
You all are worried about the boys in your life. I get it — I am too. My upcoming book has a huge section exploring why boys have trouble developing authentic friendships, and what we know about the costs of these sacrifices, and what we can do to help our boys open up and stay vulnerable. But I included some key highlights from the research in this essay I published in August.
The email with the highest open rate
Apparently puberty vexes many of you. WHICH I ALSO GET. You couldn’t wait to read this excellent Q&A from January with puberty experts Cara Natterson and Vanessa Kroll Bennett.
The essay that inspired the most paid subscriptions
I can’t say I’m surprised that you all wanted to learn more about my divorce. This was the essay in which I announced I was separating and discussed the various factors leading up to it and how we were handling it. It led to a huge spike in paid subscriptions.
The thread with the most comments
Ohhh boy you all had a lot to say about the parenting advice that fails you and why! Bring it ON!
And now onto the flops!
Let’s see which of my newsletters did not resonate with you this year….
The email with the lowest open rate
Apparently none of you wanted to talk about (or maybe even think about?) your insane fall schedules this year. I can so relate. But hey, WE SURVIVED!
What were YOUR favorite newsletters of 2024? Share in the comments!
I personally really liked the newsletter where people shared stories of how they talked to their kids about the election. Since my daughter just turned 5 right before the election we didn’t talk about the election nearly as much as some families with older children (and my sister definitely had more conversations with my older nephew who’s almost 8 than she did with her 5 year old). I always like to see how other people handle difficult discussions.
I always feel like difficult conversations happen in the car where my daughter will ask me a question that I’m not at all prepared for, and I find myself carefully choosing what to say and trying not to say more than what she asked. One Sunday she hit me with a question about was it a baby that died or an embryo when you had miscarriages. She watched the episode of Magic School Bus where the embryo grows into a chicken enough now that I knew that’s why she asked and she wondered if it was the embryo that stopped growing (since my 3 miscarriages were first trimester losses, I told her that yes, out of the 4 times I have been pregnant, 3 times it was likely that something went wrong either with the embryo or with how it was implanting so that’s why my pregnancy with her was the only healthy one). My daughter always keeps me on my toes with her questions, so I try to do my best to explain things.