“I knew my husband was there to get her but I was too far away in that moment. I know that panic because I’ve had it too. These are the generations that were born and raised post 9-11. They are a generation that grew up practicing active shooter drills at school. Yet they kept going to school. Until now.”
‘Mommy, kids were yelling and happy, but I’m scared.’ She tearfully told me students poured into the hallways after dismissal. I choked back sobs.’: Mom says ‘if we are engaged, we can teach our kids coping skills and resiliency’
‘It goes by so fast, but a mama always thinks she has more time.’: Mom encourages us to cherish every moment, ‘They grow in the blink of an eye’
“She holds back tears as she looks at the disassembled crib leaning against the wall. She sits in the audience with a tissue in her hands, and the proudest smile on her face. She sees that baby up on stage in a cap and gown, and she wonders where the time went. Her heart beats with a mixture of pride and pain.”
‘I told my wife to clean. She spent time talking to friends instead, so I gave her something to cry about.’: Mom’s clever plea to show compassion to our kids, ‘Hold your child a little tighter tonight’
“‘Today, I smacked her. She got really upset because I refused to buy her some chocolate. I told her she’s not going out with her friends this weekend now. If she can’t be bothered to do the simple things I’ve told her to, why should she get to do nice things?’ We really wouldn’t tolerate it between adults…so why should we do it with children?”
‘Mommy, can I sleep with you?’ Sleep was so very important to me. I’d give up food before sleep.’: Mom says when it comes to ‘sleep’ for now, her answer will always be ‘yes’
“I was particularly comfortable, stretched out in my tempur-pedic dream bed. I was mid-dream when I felt a poke. Startled, I looked up to find my son at my bedside. He leaned in and whispered, ‘Mommy, can I sleep with you?’ I looked at the clock. It was 1:18am. It’s been 700+ nights now, and each and every night he comes to my bedside.”
‘Tell me about when you CAME OUT.’ We left the interviews feeling a sense of ‘otherness.’ ‘Why does that even matter?’: LGBT couple adopt medically-complex baby boy from NICU
“I was at lunch with friends when my phone rang. I didn’t pull it out of my coat pocket. Soon, I got this overwhelming feeling to check it. My heart literally stopped. ‘It’s the adoption agency.’ I could barely get the words out. Both my friends yelled, ‘IS IT A BABY?!’ I rushed outside. There was a 2-pound baby born 3 months early. ‘He’s not breathing.’ We were presented a long list of medical issues. ‘Are we ready? Can we even do this?!’ We decided to let fate take over.”
‘You are a giving up years of your life to guarantee another human has the best years of theirs. You are a good, good mother’: Woman pens letter of gratitude to stay-at-home moms
“No one else was considered for the job. You were the only one qualified for this child. You won’t enjoy every minute, and that’s okay. You are a sacrificial and serving mom.”
‘This child will be a burden to you.’ Her chocolate eyes shot through my screen. ‘Oh, crap.’ A feeling washed over. ‘There you are, my child.’: Woman adopts girl with spina bifida, epilepsy
“A feeling washed over me. The exact same wave that washed over when they placed my biological children on my chest in the delivery room. ‘There you are, my child.’ Stroking my cheek, I felt her 28 pounds snuggle into mine. ‘Mommy, I’m so glad you found me in Armenia. I missed you even when I didn’t know you.’ She fed my soul, and she doesn’t even know it.”
‘She placed her hand on my belly and shouted ‘PREGNANT! PREGNANT! PREGNANT!’ I never met this woman before in my life.’: Woman becomes pregnant with rainbow baby after ‘five years of praying for our family to grow’
“For some reason, I wanted to be a young mom–fit, fashionable, and in the prime of life. I was doing all the pregnancy math. If we get pregnant at this time and it takes nine months to cook, then we’d have the baby at this perfect time. After several months of trying, I started to get a little worried.”
‘They whispered to each other. ‘How can that be?’ My heart sank. ‘He doesn’t seem THAT different. It must be a mistake.’: Mom surprised by son’s autism diagnosis, ‘We just chalked it up to ‘every kid is different and learns at their own pace.’
“He was a super chill baby and we thought we had it MADE. I started to notice the other little boys’ interactions with their moms. I began to get worried. I didn’t think anything was different about Landon at first, I just thought I was not a good enough mom. I thought I wasn’t teaching him these little things well enough. This was our first child and we didn’t know any different.”
‘I’m too scared to tell you because you’ll get mad.’ They’ve been cowering every time I ask, ‘what happened here?’ They’ve been lying!’: Mom implements ‘safe zone’ for kids after realizing she’s been bullying them for bad behavior
“I erupted like a volcano, spewing anger at her tiny 4-year-old body. I can hear the bully I am being. Then she matter-of-factly said, ‘I was too scared to ask you for a piece of paper so I colored on the table instead.’ The very first thing I said was, ‘thank you for telling me the truth.’ I noticed how mean I’ve been. I have realized I’m being unfair. I needed a change.”
