“With a smile, my dad said, ‘You’re going to be tiny all your life.’ It didn’t usually bother me. I found acceptance and kindness at nearly every turn. And then I went viral.”
‘You were born for our entertainment.’ An avalanche of mean comments poured in. It was crushing.’: Woman with dwarfism ‘determined’ to spread awareness
‘You don’t know me anymore.’ I thought he’d be an amazing dad. I was confused by the man in front of me.’: After divorce, mom and dad co-parent successfully, ‘The split was best for all of us”
“‘Why won’t he just go to SLEEP?’ He only saw him once a week. I wanted my family more than anything. We ended up making the best decision for us.”
‘What I DO care about is if your kid intentionally hurts mine, and you pretend you didn’t see it.’: Mom advocates for ‘sense of community’ on playgrounds
“It is not my job to discipline your kid, and if you don’t tell your kid to stop, and I have to, then I will.”
‘I picked up one of the magazines, ‘How to Save Your Marriage by Having an Open Marriage.’: Woman shares 7 reasons why ‘boring marriages are beautiful’
“I stood in the checkout line. I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. Perplexed by my behavior, my friends asked what was so funny about the headlines. I was officially obligated to explain.”
‘The tears started running. ‘How much blood has there been?’ I didn’t want to go to the ER alone. ‘That’s a nice tree, Mama.’ My husband bought it the next day.’: Mom decorates for Christmas early after miscarriage scare
“Christmas decorations this soon seemed like too much to my husband. I needed Christmas just as badly as my little girl did. Maybe we needed that tree. Crying, snot dripping down my nose, I told my husband. ‘I just want Christmas. I need Christmas.'”
‘Linda, I have news—please sit down.’ The delivery room was hush-hush. ‘She will be a burden to your family.’ Everyone was disgusted I wouldn’t abort her.’: Mom details emotional journey advocating for daughter with Down syndrome
“Our genetics counselor suggested we institutionalize her. The speech therapist said right in front of my 8-year-old daughter, ‘She will likely never have a job. I don’t even think part-time work is in her future.’ Right then is when a fire got lit. We wanted her to have the fullest and most complete life she possibly could.”
‘Every test came back normal.’ I was bedridden, unable to wash my hair or take care of my son. My life was forever changed.’: POTS warrior finds support, ‘They fight for me when I can’t’
“Going into Target is hard for me. Standing and talking too long is hard for me. I’ve almost fainted doing both things. It would be easy to hide from the world.”
‘I’m 5’7″ and my husband is 6’3″. How could this be?’ We had no family history.’: Mom celebrates daughter with Dwarfism, ‘It’s part of what makes her perfect’
“The tech printed off the ultrasound photos and joked, ‘Your baby looks bald.’ After getting measurements of her arms and legs a few times, she left me alone. As the minutes ticked by, it started to click—something was wrong. The doctor came in, sat down, and passed me a box of tissues. My mind was spinning.”
‘I said yes without asking my husband. We went from 0 to 4 in less than a year!’: Couple adopts 3 siblings then becomes pregnant, ‘This is not what I had planned, it’s BETTER than I imagined’
“They told us if we decided against taking in the baby, they would take the older two and find a home who was willing to take all three siblings, for the sake of keeping them together. Well, we were not about to let that happen. Three short months later, I was home with my three kids and a POSITIVE pregnancy test.”
‘I was the ‘teen mama with no prospects.’ But being a mom doesn’t mean your life has ended. Not even a little bit.’: Mom graduates nursing school with her children as inspiration, ‘I wouldn’t change a d*mn thing’
“The mama who had ‘given up the chance at a good life to raise two young children.’ The one who had chosen ‘mama’ over ‘life.’ Full stop. I had to show them both how everyone else was wrong.”
‘Your condition is dangerous.’ Blood came pouring out. I couldn’t live another day like this.’: Woman reveals ‘highs and lows’ of Crohn’s Disease, ‘I’m ready to take on what’s next’
“I ran to the bathroom thirty times a day, losing blood each time. I broke down and sobbed. I felt defeated by this disease. I was only a shadow of myself.”
‘When will you make your own babies?’ I’ve never been pregnant, but I am a mother. She doesn’t have my skin color, but her little arms reached for me the very first time I called her name.’: Adoptive mom details emotional journey, ‘She is our Plan A’
“It didn’t happen the way we had imagined or planned, but she was always our Plan A. Every pain, every setback, every prayer was all worth it. She may not have my eyes, my hair, or my skin color, but she has my heart. I can’t imagine loving my little girl as anything less than a true daughter.”
‘We don’t have a perfect relationship. We yell, we cry, we get into petty fights. But in the end, we’d give our lives for one another.’: Woman shares ode to sister, ‘God gave me my best friend through biology’
“No one can make me as angry as my sister. However, no one can make me feel more loved. God gave me my best friend through biology.”
‘I know you wanted to hide and eat a snack in peace. Maybe you did. Little fingers slid under the door to get to you.’: Woman reminds other moms ‘Mama, you did great today’
“I know it was a lot. It was loud and messy. You said things that were hurtful. It’s okay that today wasn’t perfect. No day will ever be.”
‘My 4-year-old came running. ‘Ms. Susan is bleeding. I need Band-Aids!’ He was by her side the whole time.’: Mom details sweet friendship between son and neighbor, ‘I am blown away’
“Every morning he gets up, brushes his teeth, and asks, ‘Can I go by Ms. Susan’s house?’ When she goes out of town, he gets upset and says, ‘She’s been gone for too long!’ She is the perfect best friend and neighbor my little boy could ask for.”
‘Is there a family history of cancer?’ I said, ‘I’m adopted. I have no idea.’ The search began.’: Adoptee reunites with birth family, ‘They accepted me with open arms’
“My whole life, I had wondered what she looked like. The social worker warned me. ‘It may not be what you thought or hoped for.’ This was really about to happen.”
‘Newborn strapped to my chest, I said, ‘I think we should foster.’ We knew it would take a village.’: Couple is ‘changed’ by foster care, ‘Our love grows each day’
“There have been some really hard days of tantrums, yelling, and crying. ‘Are we crazy? What are we doing?’ We wouldn’t be here without our village.”
‘I’m worried to give you the spot because of your hearing.’ I was mortified. I needed to prove him wrong.’: Student with hearing loss becomes advocate, ‘I’m proud of myself’
“The coach pulled me aside. ‘You have the skills, but I’m worried you’ll miss commands.’ I wasn’t about to let someone make assumptions based on my disability.”
‘I turn to walk away and she’s already crying. At 4 months old, she is realizing we are two separate people. Until now, she and I were one and the same.’: Mom shares candid reality of 4-month-old
“She came into this world only knowing our shared existence. At 4 months, she is learning her sun, moon, and stars…can just walk away. She only has one thing—a deep trust and faith I will come when she calls. As long as my arms, my chest, and my presence are where she finds peace and security, she shall have them.”
‘Anthony was the ‘throw away child,’ in and out of foster care since 4 years old.’: Family adopt teen stuck in foster care
“At 6 years old, his brother died of child abuse. He was separated from his sisters, adopted without him. People could not see the child he was going to become. They only saw the broken child. ‘Is he available for adoption?’ I was ready to be his mama.”
‘The doctor said, ‘I don’t like this, let’s do a C-section right away.’ I could hear them talking urgently, requests for tubes and oxygen — but no cry.’: Mom goes into preterm labor at 34 weeks, ‘Our family feels complete’
“No one said anything but there was some whispering and I was asked to start coming by every 2 hours. ‘Just to make sure,’ they said. There is nothing you can do except to trust the doctors but I couldn’t shake the feeling something was wrong and nobody wanted to tell me.”
‘She bends over backwards. She texts, just to check on me. She determines to make my life easier, even if it makes her life a little harder.’: Woman pens appreciation letter to mother-in-law
“Today, my mother-in-law delivered this pan to our doorstep with a hot meal tucked inside, before getting back into her car to drive home and finally eat her own dinner. If only Hollywood knew.”
‘We waited up for Daddy to come home. I called him and it went to voicemail. At 4 a.m. I got a life-changing call. ‘Oh, no honey, he didn’t survive.’: Woman loses boyfriend in car accident, ‘Hug your loved ones tight’
“I had just woken up. ‘Hello, are you the owner of a 2019 Mazda CX-5? Your vehicle was involved in an accident.’ He veered off the road and hit a concrete block that held up an interstate sign. They didn’t know who he was. Those words didn’t feel real.”
‘The server dropped off the check, and that’s when I realized. WHERE IS MY DEBIT CARD?’: Mom hilariously recounts ‘missing’ debit card, ‘I am NOT made for adulting’
“It’s not in my pockets. Not in my car. Not on the kitchen counter. So, I skivvy down for my sadness shower and… wait. Stuck to my boob. Because OBVIOUSLY.”
‘Look, it’s your mom and dad!’ Our hearts exploded. A wild and grand new adventure began.’: Mom shares the ‘unknowns’ of adoption, ‘I’d choose it all again’
“She came with in utero exposure. I didn’t expect 3-hour tantrums in the middle of the mall. The shenanigans, the messes, the crying… there was never a dull moment.”