“His sweet little cherub curls and fat tears streaming down his face, and all I could think was WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME??? My son was scared. Of me.”
‘He flailed around like a salted earthworm. ‘SIT DOWN. GO TO TIME OUT.’ I felt nothing but resentment. He widened his eyes and said, ‘Mommy, I’m scared.’: Mom shares moment of lost temper, ‘I’m terrified of screwing things up’
‘I restarted my profile and started swiping. He was nice, funny, and so easy to talk to. ‘Okay, I guess I can try dating you.’: Divorcee talks online dating in the pandemic, ‘Coincidence? Fate? Who knows?’
“My stomach dropped… I was just getting used to talking to someone, now I have to meet them! By then Covid was in full swing, but he had already planned coffee and a walk in the park. He said, ‘How about we meet at 10:00?’ I remember asking him, ‘Oh, like a day date?’ This was getting serious – I had to put on my big girl pants, fast.”
‘Are all these kids yours?’ Truthfully, I’m not the best stepmom. Sometimes I feel like an intruder in their home.’: Mom describes ‘rocky waters’ of blending families, ‘Love conquers all’
“We’ve dealt with two baby mamas, a pregnant teenager, and infertility. People think we’re crazy. ’Step’ means we don’t have to love each other but we still do.”
‘Man up. Men don’t cry.’ Now that I’m a mom, those phrases sound like nails on a chalkboard to me.’: Boy mom says it’s our duty to ‘raise boys who know real men cry’
“I will raise boys who know they always have a safe space to let it out. I will raise boys who know tears make them strong, not weak.”
‘She fell into my arms, tears falling. ‘My boy was non-verbal. He let himself out the front door.’ She tightly clutched his blanket, and described a boy just like my own.’: Special needs mom talks anxiety, missing children statistics
“My husband’s voice cracked. ‘They found him. He’s gone.’ As we sat there in the warm night lit by citronella torches, his mother, who I’d never met, hugged me and fell into my arms. ‘It happened fast. Minutes…maybe seconds. No noise…just silently slipped away.’ I held my breath. As an autism parent, I knew the statistics.”
‘When we saw the ultrasound, I almost fainted. ‘We need to hire some staff!’ It was an enormous gift.’: Gay dads welcome triplets through surrogacy, ‘We’re surrounded by love’
“We’d basically given up hope. We never asked them. They asked US. Two women wanted to help us create the family we had always wanted.”
‘We can have one more. Only ONE.’ That’s all I needed to hear. We had 8 kids within the next month.’: Couple adopts four kids from foster care, ‘My heart was changed’
“My son yelled from the back of our 12 passenger van, ‘So when does he move in?’ I was shocked. ‘Mom, he doesn’t have a family!’ It took one visit to decide.”
‘My sweet little innocent girl looked right at me and said, ‘But mom, you are Santa.’ I could have lied. Instead, I confessed the truth.’: Mom teaches daughter ‘true magic of Christmas’
“I wanted to tell her that even though the writing on her presents looks like mine, it isn’t. I wanted to tell her that when her elf caught fire last year when he was sitting on a hot light bulb, that she didn’t smell melting plastic. She is still so little, and I wanted to savor that magic.”
‘We found cysts on her brain.’ I felt her strength, her love. I did everything possible to give her a chance.’: Mom births miracle baby with Edward’s Syndrome, ‘She’s a warrior’
“I started bleeding and my only thought was, ‘I’m losing my baby.’ But there was a heartbeat. And it was a strong one. She wanted to live.”
‘She was hit by a tractor. She didn’t feel anything.’ I started crying hysterically. She was my soulmate, how was I supposed to move on?’: Woman with autism finds ‘special and strong bonds’ in cats
“The farmer didn’t notice. His daughter had found her body an hour later and put her in our driveway because she knew she was my cat. It was my worst nightmare coming true. I started screaming NOOO and crying hysterically.”