To all my sober supporters... this is for you ❤️❤️ https://open.substack.com/pub/kimkearns/p/i-relapsed?r=cafum&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post ..read more

When art imitates life, it's called mimesis. Lately, I have been feeling frustrated with my children, and I couldn't figure out why. Creative expression can be quite helpful in revealing feelings. The most recent episode of F*cking Sober that I wrote a couple of weeks back, there is a scene where Betsy gets fed up with her kids over screen time and calls for a "family day." I didn't even realize when I wrote this that it is exactly how I have been feeling at home. Frustrated, annoyed and defeated by my children and their screens. We are in between sports seasons over here. Hockey ended a few w ..read more

It was five years ago. 2018. That was the year I found my then three year old daughter sitting in the middle of the front hallway, late in the afternoon, with her Easter basket in her lap, surrounded by empty wrappers, her tiny face covered in melted chocolate. She was so little, so innocent, just so damn sweet. The night before Easter morning, I had been up late drinking wine alone on the couch, while Evan fell asleep next to me. I wanted to wait until the kids were fast asleep before I played the roll of Easter bunny - setting out the treats, laying out the plastic, green grass by the door ..read more

Everyday, waking up sober is infinitely better than the way life used to be when I drank. I still don't have all the answers, but I have a better grasp on myself and what I want in my life. At the same time, things have not been easy on this journey. One of the hardest concepts when you stop drinking is wondering what your friends will think. You question how not drinking will be received by the people you spend your time with every weekend. Will my friends still want to hang out with me? What will I do on a Saturday night now that I don't drink? Will I still be invited to places? Will I feel ..read more

I have had the pleasure of working with Dina Hannigan in the Needham youth field hockey program here in our town of Needham and getting to know her over the past few years. My daughter, Parker, plays field hockey in second grade and I am one of the youth coaches. Dina has been a great supporter of me in my sobriety and is a wonderful influence to much of the youth in our town. She has done so much for girls sports and continues to reimagine and redevelop the programs for our future youth. Also, Dina was recently awarded the USA Field Hockey 2022 Humanitarian Award - an incredibly prestigious h ..read more

This past year, well it was a good year. I feel like I spend most of my days in a state of self-reflection, so to think back on the entire 365 days as a whole is no different than what I would do on any other morning. Overall, I never felt like I was white knuckling my way through sobriety this past year, and I felt a bit more confident on all fronts. Each and every holiday no longer felt like a milestone moment in the sober-sphere because I had been there/done that in 2021. I had experience in navigating parties and attending boozie events, so I knew how to handle those situations. Not only d ..read more

I am so beyond excited that Season 2 of this Webby Award Winning podcast is finally coming out - tomorrow! Episode one releases on January 1st, 2023, and I could not be MORE PROUD! We have been working on this for almost two years, and it has been so cool to be a part of the entire process. Katie Mack is one of the most incredible people I have met on my sober journey, and I am so fortunate that she took a chance on me. It all started back in 2020. I was about 14 days sober and couldn't sleep. I was awake, tossing and turning at about 2am, wondering what the fuck I was doing with my life and w ..read more

Hi Everyone, Writing about my alcohol free experiences has been the cornerstone of my sober journey. Sharing on this blog has allowed me the vulnerable space to be myself and explore a side of me that was bottled up, hidden away for many, many years. I am not closing that door, but I am just allowing myself the opportunity to reach more readers. I am moving my writing platform over to Substack, and all my future pieces will live there going forward. This blog will still exist, and it will serve as the resource that it is - a place to read about the first two and half years of my sober journey ..read more

I hosted my first gathering of Sober in the Suburbs at my house this week. I wasn't sure what to expect, but I knew it was time to move forward with the idea. This was something I had been thinking about for over two years, as I had been envisioning it in my head since the day I stopped drinking. That day, back in November of 2020, I googled "sober moms in the suburbs of Boston," or something along those lines. My search brought up almost nothing. I was hoping to find different options of groups to join - similar to what is offered to new moms in the suburbs of Boston. There was nothing. I did ..read more

I have the cutest one year old puppy. His name is Moose, and I actually got him one year ago today on Mother's Day, last year. He is undoubtedly my dog, and no one in this house will dispute that fact. I told my family that all I wanted for Mother's Day last year was this little puppy. My husband was less than pleased, but we drove up to the breeder's house in NH and picked him up that Sunday morning anyway. He is a Cavalier King Charles, and he is precious. He also just recently stopped pooping in the house - his favorite spot was the kid's playroom. But, he still loves to chew my husband's s ..read more