“We were beside ourselves. This couldn’t be happening again. Daniela was scared and had been through so much already with all the chemo and radiation.”
‘We thought she’d be saved once again. But this time, they had nothing left to offer.’: 8-year-old girl dies of cancer after 4-year battle, 4th relapse
‘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’
“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.”
‘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.”
My Son With Autism Is The Bravest Person I Know
“Autism is a game of short strides. One day, you look up and realize all the work, all the hope, all the fear, all the worry is turning into something bigger than you imagined.”
‘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.”
‘A friend expressed concern about our plans. ‘It scares me to look at you because of your eyes.’: Young woman with 1 in a million OFCD embraces ‘divine uniqueness’
“Everyone has scars. I happen to visibly wear mine for the world to see.”
‘After 12 years of negative tests, we got our positive.’: Son has sweetest reaction to becoming big brother just 1 month after parents give up on conceiving
“He’s wanted to be a sibling for 12 years.”
12-Year-Old Starts Nonprofit Providing Kindness For Less Fortunate In His Community
“Even with the pandemic hitting nationwide, that has not stopped me from doing what I love the most, helping the less fortunate. I will always spread kindness anyway I can. It’s just glued in my heart.”
‘I ripped off the dress that was now too tight. Then, out of rage, I ripped it in half, tears pouring down my face.’: Mom accepts postpartum body changes
“It’s okay to sometimes break down during postpartum. It’s okay to be sad about your transformation with each pregnancy, or to not love your postpartum body at times.”
‘He would tease me for ‘waddling across the room.’ I felt wildly inadequate and humiliated.’: Woman shares relationship with diet culture, advice for others during the holidays
“‘You can jump off the wagon now,’ they say. But the moment we wake up on January 1, we have to ‘get back on track’ with an extreme diet to ‘undo’ all the ‘bad behavior’ of the holidays.”
I Gave My Kids $7 Each, And It Started A Christmas Kindness Tradition
“We wanted our children to learn about kindness and being part of this outreach.”
‘Want 3 boys? 3, 5, and 6?’ Something was tugging on our hearts, encouraging us to take another chance.’: Mom candidly shares ‘deep love’ and heartbreak of foster care
“This time, we said goodbye to three. THREE. Losing one was hard enough, but three? A friend and fellow foster mom texted me and reminded me our kids aren’t ever really ‘ours.'”
‘My struggles were passed off because of ‘my Christian upbringing and shy temperament.’ The best way to survive was to fly under the radar.’: Mom diagnosed with autism at 29
“My heart beat violently in my chest and my face prickled hot with anxiety. ‘I think I might actually be autistic…’ It could’ve cost me all I held dear: my husband, my daughter, even my independence.”
I Photographed Twins—One Earthside And One In Heaven—And It Will Stick With Me Forever
“Back in August I took maternity photos for a friend having identical twin boys. Unfortunately, one of those twins only joined us for 24 hours on earth, before leaving to join the angels in Heaven. I’m so thankful to have had the opportunity to capture these images for this sweet family.”
When It Comes To Postpartum Moms, The Most Valuable Help Has Nothing To Do With The Baby At All
“While holding a fresh baby might be fabulous for you, it isn’t necessarily helpful for her.”
15 Hilariously Pet-Proofed Christmas Trees To Make You Smile
Indoor pets simply don’t understand why their humans have dragged a giant tree into the house, and it shows.
Dear Special Needs Child, The World Has Failed You
“We returned to IEP world today. I listened for over an hour of how far behind you are. Of how and where you struggle. Parenting was easy from preschool to elementary. There were so many services and supports. Then they ended. Some days I don’t even know the question, let alone the answers.”
This A Cappella Version Of “The 12 Days Of Christmas” Is A Hilariously Beautiful Mess
“Their version of “The Twelve Days of Christmas” is unlike anything you’ve ever heard before.”