“This is your reality. Your mother is more like a long distant cousin. Your friends bond with their moms over ‘The Bachelor.’ They could talk for hours about decorating the same way Joanna Gaines does. But you can’t do that. Your mom barely has a maternal bone in her body. She dropped you off at college and barely hugged you goodbye, thankful you were finally out of her house.”
“I definitely don’t want to hang out with the friend who tells me my husband walked about because there was obviously something wrong with me. My best friend, my soul sister, told me ‘I can’t even keep my life together’ because I was not able to keep my marriage together. Ouch.”
“Let your person have a minute, because when loved ones can say what they need and those needs are honored, trust is built and love is strengthened.”
“I proceeded with my plan to be Susie Homemaker meets Carol Brady. But no one was around to witness it. I was with another human all day, but felt horribly unseen. I was over-touched, but not talked to enough. I’d been constantly moving, but never really exercised my mind. I often found myself staring at the clock, willing the magical sound of the garage door to arrive.”
“I was horrified recently to find out many fully-grown women in my life didn’t know all the names for their own anatomy! As ADULTS, they had never learned. My children are 5, 7, and 8. They know all about consent, menstruation, sex, pedophiles, puberty, and more. In our family, we view these conversations as a ladder to safety. I’d rather them know the facts than to ‘learn’ from the playground or internet.”
“Four of us who grew up together used to take a girl’s weekend every year. Laura was the first to get married and the first to have a baby. We were sitting in our hotel room as she pumped her milk. The rest of us, not yet moms, were mesmerized. That crazy machine was singing, ‘a little bit more, a little bit more.’ If you pumped, you know what I’m talking about. She was actually going through all of this while on VACATION. We stared at her baffled.”
“He was a super chill baby and we thought we had it MADE. I started to notice the other little boys’ interactions with their moms. I began to get worried. I didn’t think anything was different about Landon at first, I just thought I was not a good enough mom. I thought I wasn’t teaching him these little things well enough. This was our first child and we didn’t know any different.”
“Show up. Wide eyes. Big grin. A hug or a high five. And if you’ve had one of those days when you really don’t feel like it…do it anyway. Your attitude sets the tone for the rest of the evening within 15 seconds of walking in the door.”
“About a week and a half after the church fast, I got the shock of ALL shocks — another positive pregnancy test. ‘It looks like you got pregnant sometime between January 13-15th.’ The EXACT DAYS of the fast.”
“I bet you woke up with a list of things you needed to do today. I did, too. You had appointments to schedule, bills to pay, and yes, the bathrooms will get done today! But then a little hand reached for yours. Your breath caught in your throat as she looked straight back at you. Mine did, too. She is the best thing you’ve ever seen.”
