“I was dropping my son off at daycare. When we arrived, there was another little boy who’d just been dropped off by his mom. He couldn’t have been more than 3 years old. And he was wailing. This child was genuinely distressed. He wanted his mom very, very badly. I don’t know if I’ve ever felt more in tune with another person’s emotion.”
‘I want my mom!!! I want my mom to come back!!!’ He was totally inconsolable. I’ve never felt more in tune with a person’s emotion.’: Daughter’s advice on getting through the holidays without your mother
‘Are you kidding?’ I opened the front door. The babysitter was asleep. 8 kids were in the living room, awake.’: Mom says no to in-home daycare, ‘there are things going on behind closed doors’
“I signed my 1-year-old daughter up for a local early children center. My coworker shook her head in disbelief. ‘Your husband must make a lot of money, because I send my kids to an in-home daycare. It’s like, two-thirds of the price!’ My husband and I are teachers, so clearly we’re not in it for the fat paychecks. As the $700 monthly bills continued to roll in, I was tempted.”
‘I had a job interview today. And I had to bring my toddler along.’: Dad explains he ‘did what I had to do’ because ‘childcare is expensive’ and he’s ‘not working’
“I did what I had to do, which meant dragging my exhausted toddler on the subway, letting him sleep on me, then carrying him 8 blocks, all while wearing a full suit on the hottest day in history. I was literally dripping with sweat. We’re doing what we can to survive.”
‘What the heck is going on? Have we been robbed?!’ I walk through an ocean of toys and books. My husband and baby are hidden among thrown sofa cushions. Sheer panic sets in.’
“‘She’s fallen asleep. Should I carry her to bed?’ Lunchtime. My phone pings again. ‘She’s woken up. What should I give her for lunch?’ I tell him she likes the pre-made pouches of baby food in the cupboard. Another text. ‘I can’t find the pouches.’ I can’t wait for Daddy to realize that staying at home isn’t all about box sets and playtime.”
‘When we lost her, we lost our way completely. The day she died, my heart didn’t break – it disintegrated.’: Baby dies of SIDS at daycare; family heals by choosing to ‘make the world a kinder, more loving place in her name’
“Our family of 4 was complete the day Scarlett came into the world. When we lost her, we lost our way. Our bouncing, baby girl died of SIDS at daycare just 2 weeks after I went back to work. The hospital staff literally held me up as I watched them work on her tiny, lifeless body. Deep into my grief, I had a realization; Scarlett would never want this for me. Her time on Earth was short, but her impact is undeniable.”
‘I kept my pregnancy a secret. I knew coming home from the war would be tough, but I expected him to be a better father. He started drinking and blaming me.’
“I was working full time, coming home to a 2-year-old, while his dad played video games. My initial thought was ‘How??’ I saved the test to show their father. But that never happened. So I sent him a message. Straight to the point. ‘I’m pregnant.’ He packed all of his stuff, and was just gone.”
‘There was a catch. This boy was technically a man. At 20-years-old, our sexual relationship was illegal. After hiding our meetups, I came home to find a police officer on my couch.’
“My first true love went to jail, and I became a small-town girl with an over-sexualized reputation. Teachers hit on me. Dads from the daycare I worked at stalked me. I was ridiculed, taunted, labeled easy. Enter more boys.”
‘I picked him up from daycare. His little legs had bruises all over them. He was only 4 months old, so he wasn’t crawling yet. There was no obvious explanation.’: Son diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia after mysterious bruising
“My husband inquired about the bruising. He was told that, ‘babies just bruise easily,’ and the bump was just a birthmark. Our minds were filled with fear and uncertainty and our stomachs were in knots. Feelings of anger crept up inside of me.”
‘I’ve been counting down!’ It was my last birth. I never have to do this again, but I’m so grateful for the 3 times I have.’: Mom learns to soak in last ‘firsts’ with final baby
“I was still in the stirrups, getting stitched up, talking to my OB. She had no idea how much I had been counting down to this milestone. ‘I never have to do this again!’ She laughed and told me she’d never gotten that answer before. The last birth of our last baby. I had a ‘geriatric uterus’ this pregnancy, being 35.”
‘I boarded a plane in the early hours of the morning with nothing more than my 6-month-old and a duffel bag’ Mom documents beautiful and enduring autism journey
“While many people don’t see why his autism or other special needs have anything to do with this shoot, I think many will. This is him in his element.”
