“Fast forward to July 2018. My daughter is now 16. I saw a story about a dad who was changing his daughter on a dirty tile floor in a public restroom. I was taken right back to 2002. I thought YES! That was the worst! I have done that many times!”
‘I was a young father, 21, trying to figure it out as a single dad. There weren’t baby changing tables in men’s restrooms. Changing diapers SUCKED in public.’
‘When I became a father I felt like a fumbling mortal, a diaper-changing imposter. I grew up to learn my dad had faults, too. Like many men of his generation, he didn’t know how to handle his emotions.’
“I saw my dad on the same level as Batman or Superman. He was so strong. It seemed like he could do anything. He could pick up both of my sisters and me at one time, tickle us, and throw us around like a rag dolls. He gave the best hugs.”
Why I’m Thankful I See My Son At His Worst
“You don’t have to pretend with me. I am your safe haven.”
I Have A Large Family, And People Say The Strangest Things Because Of It
“I know how crazy my life looks, and when you approach with the sheer goal to reiterate that fact, it not only puts a damper on my day, but it teaches my kids that having a large family is ‘wrong.'”
‘At the performance, my baby boy blew out his diaper. I scooped him up, rushing to the bathroom. This was at our fancy playhouse, which apparently meant no changing table.’
“I set him down as I cleared away the fancy bowl of potpourri that was not helping this situation. I was about 25 wipes into the situation when, to make the mess worse, he starts projectile vomiting while I am changing him.”
‘Here’s where my 12-year-old son, Noah, should have stood this morning for his obligatory back-to-school picture.’: Bereaved mom says ‘it’s okay to acknowledge both the beauty and the ache’
“Today he should have started 7th grade. Instead he never will.”
‘They said $5 for any dog that’s a foot or longer. I immediately thought of Subway’s $5 foot long! I decided to text my mom to ask for ‘permission.’
“She never specified what kind of foot long…”
‘It was obvious her heart behind this was ENORMOUS and pure’: Special education teacher’s homemade traveling coffee cart allows her students to ‘practice social skills, work through their shyness’
“This allows her students to walk around to the teachers and staff in the school, take their orders and then deliver their coffee to them. They even learning how to run a simple business by calculating their expenses and profits.”
‘My tiny Autism warrior has one of the best teachers. Not joking- we hit the jackpot. I don’t take it for granted for a second.’
“But this isn’t about teachers. It’s about the paraprofessionals. The aides. The helpers. The snugglers and errand runners. The quiet encouragers. The hallway monitors. This is for the backbone of every classroom across America. For all the spines with soft spots who love our children when we can’t.”
‘This is what my daughter wore to her first day of 1st grade. Three pairs of different colored socks, all inside-out, stuffed into her ‘fancy’ shoes. And oh, let’s not forget the bright pink BATHING SUIT.’
“Did they think I was a bad mom for letting my child walk around like that? That I was lazy or over-indulgent?”