“After my first round of chemo, my husband left me. His family told me he ‘couldn’t stand by and watch the girl he loves, die.’ I filed for a divorce. After 2 more rounds of chemo with my daughter, she was born 6 weeks early. ‘I am leaving this hospital with or without your permission so I can spend Christmas at home with my two daughters.’”
“There are no tryouts. Everyone is accepted. I’ve never been more disgusted by a group of parents in my entire life, the way I was last weekend at my daughter’s soccer game. They made fun of our girls from the get-go. 6-year-old’s. First graders! They don’t keep score! But these parents – they were relentless. Within 2 minutes of this game, I knew this would be a whole different experience.”
“My first glimpse of him was from a picture my husband had taken. His hands were at his chest, his legs were curled up tightly in a little yoga pose. He had 10 sweet fingers and toes, and I was in love. We were both in shock, the panic over doing what was best for him was all I could think about. The nurse put him on my chest. He was so tiny, and beautiful, despite looking ‘different.'”
“My husband knew that while I dried my hair or slathered on moisturizer, I was perfectly comfortable with him coming into the bathroom to continue a conversation or tell me what I’d missed in the show he was watching. I never had an issue with him seeing my body, as I did unsexy things like brush my teeth. Until now.”
“We paraded excitedly into the courtroom. The twins, in all of their manic glory, ran about, spun in the judge’s chair, making tons of noise. A shoe was thrown across the room. The oldest sat back and watched in amusement. When the judge asked each kid if he wanted Tom to be his legal father, all 3 responded ‘YES!’ He then turned to Tom and said with a wink, ‘No backsies.’”
“Ever notice how shopping for a new ‘mom-friend’ echoes a scene straight out of ‘Goldilocks and the Three Bears’? One is ‘too hot,’ while another is ‘too cold.’ The hunt can be taxing as you search for the mom who is ‘just right.’ Just when you think you may have found her; the big bad wolf comes and whisks her away.”
“Rear face until they can drive on their own or reach 160lbs, whichever comes first. Wash your face every night and develop a good moisturizer routine so you don’t look like a worn-out hag tomorrow, but hurry, he’s got that ‘sex time’ look in his eye and you still have laundry. Did you floss today?”
“I received comments. ‘Are you sure you want to move forward with testing for that diagnosis? That means you and your child would have that label and diagnosis for the rest of your life!’ ‘I hope you don’t become ‘that mom.’ I’m the exact person I’m supposed to be. It’s ok that I struggle. I have a reason. And I couldn’t be prouder.”
“She cautiously hugged his leg. He wrapped his arms around her. ‘Hi, Daddy.’ He pulled her in tighter. I’m sure he was afraid his voice would break, or the tears would flow. She left, like I asked her to. By the time I made it back to his hospital room, he couldn’t breathe. I was confused. ‘He will not make it through the night.’ I shook my head. ‘Impossible.’ He was fine just 20 minutes before when our daughter was here.”
“My friend asked if I wanted to stay the night. I couldn’t, but asked if she wanted to stay at my house. Before I could even finish, she told me ‘no.’ I shrugged it off, no big deal. A week later, she saw my whole family. That’s when I recognized the fear in her eyes. She had not seen my stepdad since then.”
