“At 36 years old, my life is on the upswing. Who would have thought? I have no reason to cry.”
‘I have a loving husband. My life is a fairytale. I should be smiling. I have no sob story to garner support.’: Mom suffering from depression gets real about mental health stigmas
I Don’t Go To Church, But I Live A Life Of Love
“Growing up, I didn’t get much from Church and Sunday school, other than boredom. After 40 years, something dormant inside me woke up.”
‘The pregnancy test read, ‘Yaaaaaaas!’ before I had time to pull up my pants. There I was, knocked up with my post-vasectomy baby.’: Mom hilariously recounts vasectomy fail
“At 40 years old, post-vasectomy, we thought my husband was shootin’ blanks. All I could do was laugh out of shock. Very quickly followed by a much larger part of me saying, ‘Oh…sh*t…’ As I stood up and washed my hands, I was overcome with a feeling of dread.”
‘We’ve been escorted out of court for our safety from gangs. My heart’s broken, but it’s not about me.’: Foster mom gives candid account of system, ‘It’s not about getting a baby’
“I’ve stood with a mother before a judge so she had someone to support her. I’ve rocked a child far too big for hours until they collapsed from exhaustion. NOTHING can prepare you for the heaviness. This can’t be about you.”
‘No human needs to walk around trying their absolute best all the time. Sometimes trying your best is just too tall of an order.’: Mom urges compassion for everyone
“We take in a million messages putting us into good old-fashioned fight or flight. It’s legitimately exhausting. I do not have a drop of ‘trying my best’ left in me.”
‘Writing letters to prospective birth mothers, I began to feel nauseous. ‘Katie, you’re PREGNANT!’ I felt the blood drain from my face.’: Couple adopt homeless boy from foster care, ‘He stole our hearts, then he took our last name’
“‘Would you be willing to take in a little boy who was just born? He needs a family.’ I called the social worker back. ‘YES!’ Two days later, I met the second love of my life. A tiny, beautiful boy with the most gorgeous blue eyes I’d ever seen. The moment I laid eyes on him, my heart knew. He was my son, my missing puzzle piece.”
‘A first-time mom, I didn’t know what to do. An old woman spoke out, ‘Oh honey, give him to me!’: Woman recalls stranger’s kindness, ‘Be someone’s silver lining’
“It was our first excursion. I tried to hush him, rock him, to no avail. I was close to tears. ‘Calm your nervous hands!’ In the changing rooms of Target, I learned my first lesson in parenting. ”
‘The first time I heard ‘rainbow baby,’ I was pissed. This storm doesn’t end.’: Mom details acceptance of term ‘rainbow baby’
“I thought it was one more way to say, ‘I know your baby died, but look, you get a NEW one!’ I could not handle anything that conveyed a replacement. This storm doesn’t end, there can’t be a rainbow.”
‘Mom! You have gray hair!’ I’d pluck them. I believed my best days had passed and felt rooted in shame.’: Woman goes on self-love journey, ‘My beauty is more than my hair’
“People said my 22-year-old daughter and I looked like sisters, and I thought I was giving that up. I decided I was grateful to be the age I was because aging is not a privilege everyone gets.”
‘You’re still holding on.’ We hadn’t let go of our twins. I started having vivid dreams of a baby boy.’: Couple adopt after loss, ‘Our babies are truly watching over us’
“The doctor looked worried. ‘I can’t find a heartbeat.’ I asked, ‘Both of them?’ It had been over 3 years and yet, we still had not let go. Until we got a call about a mom who wanted to meet us.”
‘I wanted to give them a message in Heaven.’ I unfolded the paper and read the note through a cloud of tears.’: Surviving triplet writes message to deceased siblings
“I was shamed for talking about my children who died. I was told to concentrate on the living child I have, not the two no longer physically in my arms. My 7-year-old sat next to me as I wiped away tears. I asked her about that special note, handwritten with so much love.”
‘We have a 2-year-old with significant abuse. We found man-made cages where they believe he was kept.’ I wanted to love on this poor boy, and make him feel safe.’: Foster mom says ‘with difficulty comes unimaginable beauty’
“Completely out of the blue, my husband asked, ‘What do you think about being a foster family?’ I wanted to be a mom for as long as I can remember.”
‘Jack asked to wear his sister’s pants. He had his eye on them since they appeared. We both paused.’: Mom worries about son’s self expression, ‘Will they chalk it up to us, his two mom’s?’
“I mentioned his choice to my wife. Jack loves all things that sparkle. I wondered what his teachers and other adults might think. We paused immediately.”
‘How could a mom let this happen?’ She clung to the social worker with snot on her face. She couldn’t look at me.’: Foster mother pens open letter to bio mom, ‘I’m cheering for you always’
“They imagine your home being a toxic environment. They imagine your children wanting nothing to do with you. The reality is, for the first 24 hours, we mostly talked about how much she loves you.”
‘I feel like I’m betraying my mom.’ We drowned the first year. I stepmom-ed so hard, it almost broke me.’: Woman describes becoming a blended family, ‘My job is just to love them’
“I needed to take a step back. I had been trying so hard to help my stepchildren go through the healing process, I jumped into the mom role way too quickly. It wasn’t my job to fill the void.”
‘Maybe she’s not a bad friend. Maybe she really did miss your text. Her plate is completely full, and she’s coping the best way she knows how.’: Woman urges ‘love each other through the tough seasons’
“Friendship sometimes means loving each other through the tough seasons, and the rainy weather, and all the ups and downs.”
‘Do they know you have a wife?’ She said, ‘H*ll no. She knows I have kids, though.’: Wife accidentally outs spouse, worries for the judgment to come, ‘I hope one day it won’t matter who we love’
“I outed her without realizing I did it. She has a long list of clients who she has worked hard to impress. And then I lied to her about it.”
‘We caught each other’s eye on the way to addiction recovery. Two hopeless addicts, from completely different sides of the world.’: Couple beat addiction together, ‘There is always hope’
“It’s strange how love works.”
‘To my baby, you are the brightest spot of this difficult year. You are not cursed, you are not bad luck.’: Mom says newborn is ‘the beauty amidst the chaos’
“Whenever I feel overwhelmed by everything in this ‘unprecedented’ year, I hold you. And for a moment, I’m lost in the wonder which is you. You are not responsible for any of the difficulties of 2020, and you are not tied to them.”
I Invited The Mom Of My Child’s Bully Out For Coffee
“Sometimes we ask for the things we get in life. Sometimes we don’t. But all the time, we don’t know what other people are going through unless we listen.”
‘Is he your son?’ I nodded and waited for the disbelief. He just smiled. ‘I could tell. You look like best friends.’: Woman documents foster care journey, ‘Family runs deeper than blood’
“I remember the night he came home. I barely knew a handful of words. He had been told not to call me mom because I was not blood-related. It was not easy, but we grew together.”
‘I’ve had my accounts hacked. I’ve had my words twisted and changed to reflect me as a horrible person. I feel stronger.’: Woman who was hacked says ‘never give up’
“A boyfriend of years left me for another girl. I grabbed my phone and I wrote while my baby gnawed on my nipples.”
‘I will never forget the look on my parent’s faces. ‘I wish I could take this pain away from you.’ All I wanted was my baby.’: Mom recalls shock of infant’s stroke and seizures, ‘He is still perfect and he is all mine’
“I just wanted some chocolate milk. Upon returning from the cafeteria I see a man I do not recognize standing over my son. What’s wrong? Who is this guy? Why is he here? He was a respiratory therapist. Ian had had his first seizure. He had quit breathing.”
‘You MUST have your camera on to receive credit.’ I asked to turn it off to breastfeed my daughter.’: Student shamed for needing to breastfeed, ‘This is a child, not a phone’
“His response was, ‘You shouldn’t be doing inappropriate things during class. Do that on your own time.’ I was hurt and humiliated.”
‘We don’t punish our children. No more punitive punishment, no more shame, no more control.’: Couple urges parents to try connected parenting, ‘We’ve experienced more trust with our children’
“Isn’t a part of our parenting toolbox, but it used to be.”