judging

‘The plan came out for school next year. The younger two simply said, ‘What are my friends doing?’: Thinking about back to school, Mom says, ‘Ask your friends how they’re doing instead’

“I totally get it… I was wondering what my friends were doing too. The older two had their own opinions. All the nopes with this.”

Edited By LJ Herman

‘I park in the handicapped spot. ‘You should be ashamed.’ All of a sudden this woman is yelling words like ‘report’ and ‘police.’: Double amputee pens PSA for ‘handicapped parking vigilantes’

“It’s a cold winter day. I’m rushing to my car to get out of the wind. All of a sudden, I hear a woman yelling at me. I try to calm her down by telling her, ‘It’s OK. I really am handicapped!’ But NOOOO, she will not accept that.”

Edited By Elizabeth Grow

‘Kids can be so mean. Schools are breeding grounds for cliques. Teach them to be inclusive. Teach them not to judge, not to bully.’: Mom urges other parents to ‘teach your children to be nice’

“Our kids’ teachers have the math, reading, science, arts, and writing covered. And, Lord knows they make up for the parenting mistakes we are making at home. But, my goodness, what a ginormous favor we can do those educators, and the world, if we teach our children to be nice.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘My daughter darted away in a crowded mall. There was no sign of her.’: Mom terrified after losing daughter in mall, reminds parents ‘how quickly a child can get away’

“I frantically asked a lady at a kiosk if she had seen my daughter. She looked up at me confused and asked how she got away. Where was I? Why wasn’t her dad watching her? I ignored her questions and told her to call security before I darted away. After an hour of me violently shaking, the guilt set in. The kiosk lady’s words began to repeat in my head.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘As a mom, you just KNOW. Something didn’t feel right. Cars zipped by on the busy street. I trembled as we made our way to the front of the building. We were only a few steps away. I wanted to run, but I didn’t.’

“I wish I could’ve jumped into one of those passing cars and pretended it never happened. That I hitchhiked, ran away, disappeared. I thought we could find someone to ‘fix’ my son. As the woman in the office spoke, I couldn’t take my eyes off her mouth. I knew the word that would come. I didn’t believe her.”

Edited By Megan Kujawa

‘I heard him speaking to my OB. ‘It’s nothing to worry about – it’s just a little spotting,’ he told her. As that word ‘just’ rolled off his tongue, I cringed.’

“I’ll never forget laying in that cold, sterile room, praying that I was wrong, hoping that I was being overly cautious. But I knew with certainty I wasn’t.”

Edited By LJ Herman

‘To the nurse who made me feel guilty for using an elevator. ‘I had to park on the roof, there’s no way I’m making it all the way up there!’ You scoffed, and gave me an eye roll.’

“You said, ‘Well, I was planning on taking the stairs but since you’re not capable of that…’ You watched me laugh it off and smile, but here’s what you didn’t know.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy

‘I spent hours searching, which told me my daughter had autism and was mentally impaired. I cried and cried for weeks, absolutely devastated my child was ‘not like the rest.’

“I started to notice she wasn’t ‘just like her sister’ around 9 months old. She still didn’t have her first teeth, and was barely babbling any words, let alone noises.”

Edited By Eliza Murphy