“Sometimes I throw a popsicle at my 2-year-old at 9 in the morning to reserve my sanity for a few more hours.”

‘We need to teach kids perfect moms DON’T exist.’: Woman talks ‘roller coaster ride’ of motherhood, ‘We’re in this together’

‘My son throws tantrums. The kind that makes friends look away and hold their breath.’: Mom to strong-willed child urges ‘I’m the luckiest mama in the world’
“He’s exhausting and complicated and particular. He’s strong-willed and persistent and intelligent. It’s not easy raising a stubborn 2-year-old. But in my heart, I know all of his BIG personality traits will one day make him an incredible man.”

‘Mom,’ her eyes narrowed. ‘Why are you looking at me like that?’ Today my daughter caught me staring.’: Mom gushes ‘I can’t believe I created such a beautiful human’
“I always catch myself staring at my children. I can’t help it. I never thought much about it. Until today.”

‘I’m a take out pizza kinda mom. My friends are meals-with-vegetables-waiting-in-the-freezer moms. All our kids are fed.’: Mom shares important reminder ‘we don’t have to parent the same to parent well’
“Just because I parent differently from another mom doesn’t mean either of us are doing it wrong.”

‘Relax, it’s just an empty toilet roll.’ I carry the mental load for this family. I complete the invisible, thankless tasks no one wants to do.’: Stressed mom powerfully urges ‘please think of me’
“For me, it’s not just that one task, it’s one less thing on my list, one less thing on my mind. So, the next time you pull the last piece of paper off the roll, for once, please just think of me.”

‘Who is that tall man that now towers over her? Where is her little boy? How did it go so fast? She rests her read against his broad shoulder.’: Mom urges ‘remember how it all feels’
“The tiny newborn. The sweet toddler. The adventurous boy. The challenging teenager. The confident man. The doting father. She’s loved them all. And she knows that for as long as she lives, she’ll always remember how this feels.”

‘She let an ‘I love you’ slip in the middle of a tickle fight. Her shell broke, and she fell completely head over heels for him.’: Mom shares sweet ode to daughter and her bonus dad
“John is not her second dad. John is HER John. Friend, dad, protector. Stepdad and stepdaughter were never in our vocabulary.”

‘There will be days you will hit rock bottom.’ I wish they asked about our support system. But I wish they would’ve finished with, ‘It WILL be okay.’: Mom to sons with autism says, ‘It’s challenging, but beautiful’
“Now, as we prepare for the third time around, I realize all I wish they had told us was, ‘It will be okay.'”

‘One day, your arms will dangle at your sides instead of reaching for me to pick you up. These moments are fleeting, little man. No matter how hard I hold on, they’ll slip through my fingers.’: Mom urges ‘hold onto those precious cuddles’
“You won’t need your knees kissed, or my cuddles before bed. These moments are fleeting, little man. No matter how hard I hold on, they’ll slip through my fingers. And I’ll hope, a boy will always need his mom.”

‘We carry a heavy load. Our bags and purses are full. What’s even harder is going to bed and unloading our shoulders.’: Special needs mom says ‘there are plenty of beautiful extras we gladly carry’
“Every morning, I walk to our son’s room to pick up his 40-pound body and carry him downstairs. With each step, I can feel it. As I make my way down the stairs, I start carrying more than just him. I carry gratitude.”