“We were standing at the bus stop when my daughter was scratching her head. Um, why is she scratching so much? I watched her for a minute, and could tell this was serious. Instant panic. LICE! My whole body went into hysteria. I had 4 thick, curly heads looming before me. Crap, what about my OWN head? Oh God. Tim… please… check… my… head… He parted my hair, examining it with his phone’s flashlight.”
‘Yup, you have it too. Sorry, babe.’ NOT ME TOO! I was so grossed out. I was itchy. Why us?!’: Mom relives horror of 4 kids infesting home with lice, urges other parents to ‘admit’ when family has it
‘This is my house. You will respect me.’ I didn’t see him until 3 a.m. before OUR DAUGHTER WAS BORN.’: Retired Air Force mom leaves narcissistic husband after nearly 9 years, ‘never felt happier in my life’ as single mom
“Each day I came home, more things were missing. Not just random papers. I’m talking, MY stuff. When questioned, I got, ‘I’m doing what needs to be done, don’t question me.’ I was like his child, not his wife. I married a full-blown narcissist. Ugh, I finally said it. I couldn’t live like that anymore. There was no sign of life, it didn’t feel like a home. So I left – 6 months pregnant with two small children in tow.”
‘My daughter was put in detention for the day because ‘her skirt is too short.’ She’d been in school ONE HOUR.’: Mom furious after first day of school turns to ‘nightmare,’ challenges ‘outdated’ school rules
“When I asked IF the length of my daughter’s skirt affected her education and ability to learn, I was told, ‘Yes.’ When I asked HOW, I was told, ‘School policy.’ I pointed to 3 staff members wearing shorter skirts than my daughter. She looked at me dumbfounded and didn’t answer. This isn’t about my daughter or her school. This isn’t a child issue, or even a parents issue. This is SO MUCH more than being about ‘just a skirt.'”
‘What happened, buddy? What happened?’ I laid down next to him, held his hand. An eerie calm came over me.’: Father pleads ‘hug your kids, don’t work too late’ after regretting ‘missing out on things’ with twin son who suddenly died in his sleep
“The evening before was normal. He was healthy and engaged. We had kids over for dinner. We all jumped on the giant trampoline. He got bossy with the other kids and started telling everyone they were playing the game wrong. I pulled him aside. I was stern with him. Too stern in hindsight. And I made him cry. It’s one of the last interactions we had, and I’ve beaten myself up for it. I can still see the tears rolling down his face. ‘But you’re not listening to me. No one listens to me.’”
‘An older gentleman proclaimed, ‘Wow lady, you sure have your hands full.’ My blood started to boil.’: Stranger helps widowed mom gain new perspective on rude comments about her many children
“I wanted to crawl out of my skin. I looked around embarrassed, hoping no one else heard him. This was it—I was going to let him have it. All those years of pretending people’s comments didn’t hurt me were going to come to an end. But then he looked at me with a warm glow, ‘We never could have kids.’”
‘I need to apologize to my kids. I haven’t been the best mom. I wasn’t supposed to be a mom without him.’: Widow says she was ‘impatient, irritable’ after husband’s death, admits she ‘didn’t know how to do it’ by herself
“Someone along the way decided to label us as ‘adults.’ Now we’re required to work and pay bills. We have to go to parent-teacher conferences and figure out Common Core. And some days, I just don’t want to. Some days, I just want to go back to when the nights were long, and the phone calls were longer. But, most importantly, I want to go back to when my husband was alive.”
‘I stood up. ‘Screw this, I’m done! Get upstairs! You’re taking a bath!’: Mom credits ‘random post’ for reminding her water is the cure-all for her kids’ epic tantrums
“My husband committed one of the biggest flagrant fouls of parenting – he let our 4-year-old twins fall asleep at 5 p.m. He let our little Tasmanian devils outsmart him. I made everyone’s dinner, called the twins, and there was no answer. My husband turned to me. ‘Oh yeah, they’re sleeping.’ ‘They’re WHAT?’ I knew we were about to go to war.”
‘Does he sleep in his own bed?’ The question makes me cringe a little. I lie about it, but I shouldn’t have to.’: Mom urges us to ‘trust our intuition’ with meeting milestones and ‘answer shamelessly’
“‘How long did he breastfeed?’ ‘Have you started potty training?’ Confession time. I’ve lied about all of this before. But I’m done feeling ashamed for the choices I make. My kids may not seem ‘independent’ enough for some, and that’s okay because these kids? They’re mine to bring up.”
‘Please Mom, I don’t want to leave. I promise I’ll be good. I don’t like myself very much.’: Sister’s heartbreaking tribute to her late big brother who society deemed ‘the bad kid’
“I’d watched life treat my brother Glen so unfairly. I wanted so badly for something to go right for him. One night, he was extremely upset. My father picked my mom and I up. Glen called us to see where we were, and I still remember her last words to him. ‘We’re giving you space for the night, but we want to help you, Glen.’ The next morning, we were greeted by my dog at the front door. She was crying.”
‘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.”
