“I don’t get the laundry done during the day. I don’t get to pre-heat the oven. After the kids are in bed, the house is still a mess.”
‘I was always the tired mom. I was always the yelling, burnt-out, over-worked, stressed-out mom.’: Single working mom shares blended family’s busy schedule, ‘I’m still figuring it all out’
‘A text from his mom came: He’s so happy. Hasn’t stopped holding it.’: 5-year-old infatuated with bakery store stuffed bear gets Christmas morning surprise
“Oh, my heart! To say this is what Christmas is all about is an understatement.”
‘Will I be able to have children?’ My doctor looked apprehensive. ‘I cannot answer that.’ I was horrified and anxious.’: Mom shares story with early menopause, miscarriage
“‘You have no eggs left.’ I sat there in disbelief and shock. My intuition was telling me to do a pregnancy test. The test said I wasn’t pregnant but I had those feelings for days. I was PREGNANT.”
‘I am no longer the one he looks for in a crowd, the first person he turns to when things get tough. He loves me, but I also know he loves her more.’: Boy mom urges ‘love him while you are still first’
“Kiss his sweet baby face, linger in those lanky teenage hugs. Drive him to school even when he is grumpy and doesn’t say a word to you. Love on his friends. Sit next to his hospital bed even though he screwed up. Soak up every minute under those Friday night lights. Because one day, you will give him away.”
‘Look what y’all did for my baby.’: Strangers on Reddit help struggling mom make son’s birthday wish come true
“Thank you for making an exhausted and defeated mom who has been fighting like hell for her kids feel loved. Y’all have lifted my spirits tonight.”
‘If I’m good enough for them, I need to be good enough for myself too.’: Mom struggling with body image encouraged by her children’s sweet response
“I immediately felt that familiar heat creep into my cheeks, fueled by embarrassment and disdain at my own reflection. My eyes immediately gravitate toward all of the areas I’m most self-conscious about. The areas I see as anything but beautiful.”
Sometimes, Preparing For Postpartum Isn’t Enough (And That’s Okay)
“We buy the swaddles, swings, ring-slings, nipple balms, perineal soaks. We build this army of baby gear, falsely comforted by this militia of newborn-stage survival stuff. And then the baby arrives.”
‘I hate Bre.’ If you’re a parent, you know how deep those words cut. I was broken.’: Bio, bonus mom shares journey, ‘It’s not easy, but it’s WORTH IT!’
“My friend spilled that he had five children. On the day we planned to meet, my daycare unexpectedly closed. ‘Bring Landry along!’ he said. I knew I had met my future husband and my son’s future bonus dad.”
‘You don’t belong.’ I can’t tell my children I understand how they feel, and it destroys me.’: Mom to biracial, neurodiverse family talks dealing with racism, ableism
“You can be married to a Korean man and have biracial children and still have internal racial biases. You can have a neurodivergent child and still be ableist. I can’t escape my privileges, but I can try to learn and work from them.”
‘As the social worker drove away, Tonya waved goodbye with a sad look on her face. ‘Let’s do it, let’s adopt.’: Couple adopt preteen from foster care, ‘3 months old or 17 years old, ALL children deserve a forever family’
“When people say we blessed Tonya by adopting her, I tell them it’s the other way around. She has taught us how to love and care unconditionally.”