“My two-year-old was asking for bubble gum and chocolate bars. Without missing a beat, the man behind me in line handed the cashier his card. ‘I’ve got it.’ He said. My friend at the cash register was near tears by the end of her shift. I won’t ever forget that day and I doubt she has either.”
‘My card got declined in the checkout line. I was a new mom with 2 kids under 3. I felt like I could just melt into the floor.’: Mom pays it forward after stranger’s act of kindness
‘We won’t have a little voice waking us up Christmas morning, no opening presents. We put up lights, even though they can’t express their excitement.’: Special needs mom shares reality of Christmas season, ‘our babies are the gift’
“Our Christmas is different than yours. We get no excited screams when they see what Santa brought. It’s struggling with gift ideas. What do you get a non-mobile, non-verbal child? It’s walking past all the cool toys at the front of every store, wishing our child could play with them. Our Christmas is different, but it’s still so magical.”
‘My mom loves to decorate at Christmas. It’s a big deal to her. She begged me to go outside to make sure they were ‘just right.’ I didn’t want to.’: Daughter ‘couldn’t care less’ about holidays, but realizes ‘there’s always a reason to share genuine human spirit’
“Christmas? Forget it. It’s not for me. I like the quiet. For a girl like me, holidays are overwhelming. But my mom loves to decorate. She puts up 5 Christmas trees. She goes all out. She begged me to go outside with her to look at them. I didn’t want to. I couldn’t care less. Just then it hit me. She cares. It’s important to her.”
‘I’ve been saving this money. I heard your husband died. I want you to have it because I still have my dad. Merry Christmas.’ It was a child’s handwriting.’: Widow receives unexpected act of kindness, now wants to pay it forward
“As I sat staring at the tree, silently pleading with God for direction, my doorbell rang. I made my way to the door, opened it and looked out – no one stood there. I looked down. To my surprise on the porch sat a glass jar piggy bank full of money. I read the card and started to cry. In a child’s handwriting, scribbled on a makeshift card, read the most beautiful little words.”
‘I LOVE those, are they Lulu? I just got 3 new pairs! Aren’t they great?!’ I’m a poor mom living in a rich-mom world.’: Mom learns to stops judging the rich after holiday act of kindness, ‘the size of our bank accounts doesn’t define us’
“I used to stand on the sidelines of my kids’ games and listen closely to the rich moms. My stomach dropped, my defenses rose every time: Must be nice to live that way. Do they have any idea what it’s like to have $40 left 10 days before payday? I was righteous. It made me feel better to put them down. A simple request from my teen daughter one morning put me on a journey of changing my reverse-pride.”
‘A lot of us don’t got good Christmas memories. My mom couldn’t afford presents, or was too drunk.’: Woman who worked with troubled youth struggles with holiday traditions after hearing their hardships
“I tried to make a big deal out of Christmas in a very middle-American-ignorant-white-girl kind of way. ‘Let’s decorate the tree! Let’s make Christmas cookies! Kids need presents!’ To my WASPY surprise, this wasn’t well received. Confused, I asked him about it. ‘Is this another one of my white girl questions you guys tease me about?’”
‘It’s not that you hate people or you’re shy. You just need alone time to charge your battery. I promise, I get it.’: Mom ‘appreciative’ of introvert daughter, ‘I’ve got your back this holiday season’
“The holidays just started. Soon, relatives you don’t know will be asking what grade you’re in, how your love life is going, and what you’re planning to do with your future that’s exciting and financially viable. I know social events can be uncomfortable and draining for you. But being an introvert is not a flaw that needs fixing. It’s part of your uniqueness. I’ve got your back this holiday season.”
‘This Thanksgiving, I refuse to share what I’m ‘thankful’ for. Grief and gratitude can sit at the same table.’: Mom of child loss abstains from holiday traditions, ‘I’m still grateful, but bereaved’
“I get it. The holidays bring in the time of year when I’m supposed to focus on what I have and not what I want. Well, no thank you. I’m grieving that empty space at the table. No matter how many times I write down all I’m ‘thankful’ for, someone is missing. Excuse me if I seem hesitant to participate in your sharing around the table. Please trust that I’m still a grateful person.”
‘This holiday season, I belong to me, before I belong to anyone else. There. Is. No. Winning.’: Woman implores self-care over pleasing everyone else, ‘It is NOT your job to run yourself ragged’
“Dear extended family, the proper response to your loved one not being able to be in a dozen places at once is, ‘We’ll miss you, but we understand. Let’s get together another day!’ Anything more or less than that is emotional abuse that we do not deserve.”
‘Before having kids, the only half-a*sing I was doing was letting my then tight booty peek out of a pair of two-short self-hemmed, denim shorts or squish it into a little black dress.’
“The tight booty is gone, I haven’t put my thunder thighs in shorts in seven years, and although black is still my color of choice, I opt for high-waisted leggings instead of dresses. During the brief period from Halloween night through New Year’s Day, us mothers half-a*s the shiitake out of everything, and it is entirely acceptable.”
