LJ Herman is a former editor at Love What Matters and lives in Colorado. LJ is a concert, ticket and technology enthusiast. He has seen the Dave Mathews Band over one hundred times and counting.
‘I still wake up planning when I might be able to get a nap.’: Mom of 5 opens up about daily struggle of sleeplessness
“There are a million reasons moms aren’t sleeping. Those reasons will change, but they don’t go away just because our kids are getting older. Tired is how you feel when you’re giving all you can.”
‘I cried in the truck. I cried getting out of the truck. And I cried down aisle 5 at the local grocery store.’: Woman’s realization about grief wishing Nana could be there for her children
“We celebrated birthdays for two of my sons. Wanting my mom here to celebrate and spoil her grandsons was overwhelming. I even made a last minute run to the grocery store, just to let the tears pour. Then I realized she was there at the party for her grandsons.”
‘Pray for the kind of man that will lay next to your 13-year-old, on the bathroom floor, because she can’t keep a drop of water down.’: Woman encourages others ‘Do. Not. Settle.’ when it comes to finding the perfect soulmate
“Young ladies, when you’re starting to pray for a spouse to spend your life with… pray for a man that will carry her down the stairs, to the car and spend all night in the hospital by her side. Because, if he can wake up at 4:30 a.m. on Saturday to hunt… he can wake up at 6:30 on Sunday to lead his family to salvation.”
‘This one is a ‘something tequila.’ Tequila? Say no more. I grabbed toothpicks and down the hatch it went.’: Woman recalls hilarious story traveling to family wedding
“I suddenly looked like I had been through 3 wars. My ears got hot, my face was changing colors, and my esophagus started burning. I coughed. ‘He he he he he,’ my Grandma chuckled. I gave her ‘the’ look. The poor guy behind the cheese cart looked at me like l had a few screws loose and asked if I was okay. ‘I’m good. *cough* What’s the other ones?’ I was sweating. My sternum was on fire, but Mamaw didn’t raise no fool.”
‘Why bother?’ She asks herself. ‘Why put myself through it all again this month.’ She walks past this test in Target, and gives it a doubtful glance.’: Woman urges those battling infertility ‘you are not broken’ in viral pregnancy test post
“To any woman picking this box up to stare at it in longing, in mourning, in hesitation. To wonder. To wish. To throw it in her shopping cart again this month. Throwing it in with hope. With fear. With premature excitement. With anticipation. With a sense of dread that it may just be another down the drain waste basket Walmart drop of $12.98.”
‘Because of you, I have to make chocolate chip muffins hidden with vegetables and mixed in with fairy tears.’: Mom begs other parents to ‘lower the standards. You’re only hurting yourself’
“I have spent 3 hours looking up bento boxes, protein to carbohydrate to sugar ratios for those little compartments, and how to make the food look like a happy koala in a tree. Who started this stuff? Who sets the standard like this? Stop it.”
‘Hudson’s brain told him to swallow a lot of pills. We are thanking God our boy is here with us still.’: Family advocates for open discussion around mental health after son’s suicidal thoughts, ‘Do not be afraid of this.’
“Our child is not physically sick… he is mentally sick. We see no difference. He needed a hospital. He needs prayers and support. When he returns to school, please treat him like any other friend who just got out of the hospital. High fives full of welcome backs and ‘I’m glad you’re okay.’ Please don’t be afraid to talk.”
‘Forget ‘tribes.’ These men and women will be much more. They will be your teachers.’: Woman learns to find people who say ‘I get it’ after children’s autism diagnosis
“My child just received an autism diagnosis. Where do I go from here? You read gossip magazines and watch reality TV so your brain can recoup from too many foreign medical words learned in therapy. You clean out a junk drawer in order to control what we still can. But now it’s done. No more limbo.”
‘We were babies when we said our vows. Or, at least, that’s what everyone said. Nobody told us things would feel broken beyond repair.’: Woman realizes ‘nothing precious is ever truly broken’
“What absolutely nobody told us was at some point, no matter how much we loved each other, there would come a time when things felt broken beyond repair. We had seen couples split. Even couples we admired. But we figured that kind of brokenness was for people who didn’t love one another as much as we did. Like I said, we were young.”
‘I’m ‘too attached’ to my child.’ That was the biggest criticism I received. My relationship with my child is none of your business.’: Mom insists children can’t be ‘too attached’
“It started when he was a newborn. Family and friends saying I held him too much and I was going to spoil him.”