“I came back from lunch to find a small, heart-shaped box of chocolates from my mom’s boyfriend. I felt so special! Teachers replied with disgust, ‘We don’t want OUR children exposed to that.’ It wasn’t long before it was all over town that a black man had the audacity to give a little white girl candy.”
‘Mexicans and blacks have children just to get a check.’ Imagine how this makes my kids feel.’: Mom of mixed-race foster kids describes racism, ‘If you look for love, you will find it’
‘Never take a moment for granted.’ For YEARS of my life, I was absent. I feel I’m cheating on him.’: Mom talks about difficulties of co-parenting, ‘Loving them enough to let them go is sometimes the best choice’
“I wanted to be there for it all. His first step, and not just his first word, but the first time he said ANY new word. I wanted to cuddle him and watch him sleep every night. He’s been to Disneyland 3 times, and none of them have been with me. The ideas I had of what being a mother meant were completely altered and I couldn’t do anything about it.”
‘If I knew what life had in store, I wouldn’t have spent 4 years with my ex-husband.’: Woman describes grief after fiancé’s sudden death, ‘Being with him was like finally getting a breath of fresh air’
“I beg every god I have ever heard of for this to all be a dream. I beg to forget coming home from work and finding the love of my life, lifeless on our couch. I wish I knew what life had in store. I would’ve done everything in my power to spend more time with him. I may not know where my life will go from here, but I do know I am not alone.”
‘Did I ever think you were mean and not like you?’ I knew she was leading up to something.’: Stepmom blames movies for giving stepmoms ‘a bad rap,’ ‘Come on, Hollywood, help some sisters out!’
“My stepdaughter has only known her parents being apart. They split when she was 1. I assumed she didn’t have any issues about living in two homes. She brought up ‘Cinderella’ and how the stepmom was mean. Her response made me tear up. ‘I think we are really special. It’s different with us.’ I know it’s not easy for all blended families. The crucial piece is to have a cordial relationship with her mother.”
‘I filed for divorce last Thursday,’ my husband said. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t screaming at him. My heart was shattering.’: Woman successfully co-parents with ex-husband for son’s sake, ‘He knows his mom and dad love him so very much’
“We did not go to court to fight over our son, as James’s parents had thought I would try to take him. But we sat down, talked, and through mediation, we legally share 50-50. James is an amazing father and a good man. And even though there are things he does in his personal life and with raising our son that I don’t always agree with, I know he wants the absolute best for him. It would be nothing but unfair and selfish to take that sweet boy away from his loving father.”
‘How can this be? It’s not how I wanted to bring a baby into the world.’ I heard his father met someone.’: Mom comes to accept and appreciate son’s new ‘bonus mom,’ urges to ‘let go of everything you never had control of to begin with’
“I was sitting in my car rehearsing everything I would say. ‘She better stay in her lane or there’s going to be problems!’ As I walked in, she greeted me with a warm smile and a hug. If I told you I expected that kind of introduction, I’d be lying. I was completely caught off guard. All my walls came down.”
‘Poor kid, having to pretend two ‘apes’ are family.’ They say we are mixing pure and dirty blood.’: Woman’s second marriage to black man makes her learn ‘people don’t understand the value of love over skin color’
“Women have approached my son at the park with my husband and said, ‘Honey, where is your mommy? Do you know him? Do you need me to help you find your mommy?’ He’s assumed to be a criminal while I’m always viewed as the saint, a woman who adopted black children out of the goodness of her heart.”
‘You are stronger than this. Stop!’ Gay feelings were still there. It was a secret I planned on taking to my grave.’: Man comes out to wife after 10-year marriage, ‘I am grateful for the courage to no longer hide’
“I was on the verge of a breakdown. I had avoided it long enough. I had to tell her. ‘I am gay,’ I said, overcome with emotion one night after work. It was the first time I’d ever said the words out loud. With tears in her eyes, she scooped me in her arms and held me as I wept like a baby. I will never forget that night. Neither of us had any intention of ending our marriage.”
‘It’s not fair,’ my daughter said, tears welling up in her eyes. I’ll never forget the first holiday I spent without her.’: Single dad determined to make splitting holidays with his ex work, ‘we were together, and that’s what the holidays are all about’
“As a single parent, I had to get creative. I jumped in an Uber and 45 minutes later I met my ex to pick up my daughter. We rushed inside to open presents. We had an hour to spend together in the comfort of our home. All while holding my breath that weather wouldn’t derail any of this. There was no margin for error. I wear sleigh bells and an Elf costume. We have fun with it. We were together, and that’s what the holidays are all about.”
‘Oh gosh, it’s THE VIDEO.’ The one from his first wedding. ‘Does he love me as much as her?’: Woman finally accepts being second wife, stepmom, is ‘thankful for the experiences he had because they shaped him to be who he is today’
“I had offered to help my then-boyfriend unpack boxes for his new home. Knowing I was still sensitive to items from the life he had before me, I offered to unpack the living room. I came across something which stopped me in my tracks. I immediately felt sick to my stomach. ‘Am I as pretty as she is?’ I began to feel extremely insecure.”
