“There have been decisions Steph and I have made as parents that we know our children may have opinions on. If one day my children question them, I hope my heart is proud to have raised children who can think for themselves.”
‘We used an anonymous donor to form our family despite having additional frozen embryos we could have continued trying.’: Mom of 3 hopes ‘my boys are proud one day’
‘Forgotten lunch boxes and sweatshirts remain. Untold stories, empty playgrounds. The desks are still full, but empty of the one thing that made them come alive each day.’: Mom says return to school will be ‘a day of celebration’
“The artwork on the walls is full of shamrocks and gold, rainbows, and leprechauns. Spring was right within their grasp. They said, ‘I’ll see you in a little while.’ A little while has gone on longer than anyone imagined it would, but in that classroom, time stands still.”
‘He’d point out my stretch marks and the physical things he wanted to change about me. ‘I’m sorry I said that, but you bring it out of me.’: Abuse survivor urges ‘it’s not your fault’
“He’d tell me what girls he thought was hot, who he’d sleep with. He had no problem gawking at other girls in front of me. He said he felt unimportant and that I gave him no attention, even though my eyes were always on him and he had his attention elsewhere. I was convinced I was unloveable.”
‘The same people who were created from sex are the same reason why you’ll never have it again.’: Mom hilariously points out the ironies of motherhood
“You yell at your children to just ‘listen, for goodness sakes,’ but can tune those monkeys out like it’s nobody’s business. You gain 50 pounds and yet you’ve never sat down to have a proper meal ever! You spend all day waiting for those stinkers to go bed, but when they fall asleep, you stare at their little faces, your heart so full of love.”
‘The affair was virtual and emotional, but that’s it. You reported all my mistakes to your family. I wanted to be perfect for you.’: Woman begs for forgiveness after ’emotional’ affair
“Nothing can or should justify why I engaged in a virtual online affair with someone else while being with you. I am explaining what led me to doing it, and why it meant nothing to me. It’s here, in this moment, that I broke and made the worst decision in my life.”
‘That night I cried in my driveway for a child. 10 minutes later, I got a call. ‘Can you take in 1-year old twin boys?’: 26-year-old single foster mom says ‘I was called for plans bigger than myself’
“There I was, a single 26-year-old woman. I can’t relate to abuse. I can’t relate to being moved to 5 different foster homes in a 4-month time frame. I can’t relate to being homeless and sleeping in a car. But what I can do is wrap my arms around them, hold them, and tell them their story doesn’t end here.”
‘It was like searching Tinder for a threesome without any of the sex, and I was terrified. We looked for women who closely resembled me most.’: Woman shares insight into infertility, ‘I truly would have stopped at nothing’
“She was my understudy. A woman I would never know. We didn’t want to have to explain why I gave birth to a half Asian baby. By this point, we had spent SO MUCH MONEY, and to walk away without trying one more option seemed like we just blew it all for nothing.”
‘You didn’t like your sister. ‘Meh, at least she won’t be here long.’ I worried about how we would ever navigate this growing chasm between you.’: Mom thankful for growing bond between siblings, ‘What a privilege it is to watch this friendship blossom’
“You picked on her. You were extra rough and rambunctious as a toddler. You were jealous. It was hard. I made it a point to explain…over and over again… if you were on the same side, at least you’d always have a friend. I’m awestruck when I see you protecting her from harm.”
‘My anxiety feels unmanageable.’ I feel my entire body get tight. I get incredibly tense, from my legs to my head.’: Autism mom explains anxiety during COVID-19, ‘Lack of control can feel paralyzing’
“I get defensive about anything and everything. I immediately feel like everything is my fault and there is no way I can be enough. I turn into someone who is unrecognizable to the people who know me, as I’m simply the worst version of myself.”
Your Husband Is Funny—Don’t Forget To Notice
“Somewhere between the dirty laundry and dishes, I stopped laughing at his jokes. I watched my husband come alive under the appreciation of another woman.”