“While grocery shopping, an elderly lady was talking to my boys. She was very kind, saying I had such a beautiful family. We were all smiles, until she noticed my tattoos. ‘Such a shame. You have such nice boys you’re exposing to filth.’ She kept glaring. ‘Tisk tisk. What a disgrace.’ My mouth fell open. I grabbed my kids, and saw her writing my license plate number down.”
‘I should call CPS and report you.’: Elderly woman scolds mom for tattoo honoring late grandmother
‘I was not okay. I had lost my child to death, and I was losing myself to life.’: Mom’s powerful vow to ‘claw her way out’ of ‘the darkness’ after sudden loss of 7-month-old son
“I spent far too many moments considering all the ways I could be with my son, in whatever afterlife he exists in. I even shut my own husband out. I was done living like this. I vowed to do better. I don’t know how strong I can stay. I am fragile. But I do know, I am trying.”
‘That ‘perfect’ mom, she’s a myth. The one you’re comparing yourself to? She doesn’t have it all together either. She might just be better at hiding it.’ Woman encourages moms to embrace their imperfections
“I see you. Scrolling through your phone, measuring yourself to the highlight reel of friends and family. Looking at the other mamas in school drop off and at work wondering how they make it look so easy. Can I be honest with you? It’s an illusion.”
‘At 15, I became pregnant with my daughter. I had to raise a child while still growing up myself. I received hate and rumors spread.’ Teen mom beats the odds to graduate college and ‘reach success’
“Everyone recognized me by pregnant belly, rather than by my face. I dealt with dirty looks and whispers in the hallways. In college, I got pregnant with my son. It wasn’t easy. I have been in abusive relationships, been days away from planning a wedding, only to find out I was ‘only an option.’ I wanted to give up, on everything. But I was strong for my children.”
‘There are concerns in the ultrasound.’ My doctor used scare tactics to push me into terminating my baby. I tried not to break down.’ Mom fights back after being pressured to abort baby with brain defects
“My doctor told the story of another mom’s heartache to scare me into doing what she wanted me to do. Why was she pushing termination on me SO hard? And why the heck was she calling to tell me over the phone?! Not ONCE did she apologize or say, ‘I’m so sorry.’ Instead, she told me how to parent.”
‘You got a baby BROTHER!’ He jumped up. ‘YES! I knew it was a brother! Now I get to share a room!’: After 4 sisters, adopted son finally gets a brother ‘handpicked’ for him by his ‘dad in heaven’
“We adopted my brother. My father was dying of cancer and Easton had just lost his mom. All he ever wanted was a brother. We let Easton hold him first. He began to sing, ‘You are my sunshine’ to him. Nobody prompted him to do it. It’s like he knew this whole time, his little brother would light up his life.”
‘I smashed my head on the glass coffee table and woke up with no idea what month it was. In tears, my mom called the geneticist. If I wanted to keep living, I NEEDED a service dog.’ Woman recalls how dog has saved her life ‘countless times’
“The last thing I remember was yelling for my mom. She raced up the stairs, only to be shocked. My tiny puppy had grabbed onto my sweater and was pulling with all of his might in the opposite direction to keep me from falling off the toilet and getting yet another concussion. If you talk to any dog mom they’ll tell you their dog is their world, but my dog GAVE me my world.”
‘I need to let you in on a secret. There is a block of time known as the ‘witching hour.’ Mom hilariously recaps these ‘God forsaken hours’ where kids ‘whine,’ ‘amp up their crazy’ and ‘there may be blood’
“Now is typically when you, my love, call and say you’re running late and will be home ‘soon.’ WELL ‘SOON’ ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH. The hours have been counted. I’ve been waiting. I’m already 6 feet past the end of my rope, and bedtime can’t come fast enough. I need relief. IT’S YOUR TURN.”
‘Mama, a man touched my butt.’ It’s not every day that your daughter jumps off the playground slide and says this. But that’s exactly what happened 2 weeks ago.’ Mom gives 5-year-old a powerful lesson to end silence surrounding sexual abuse
“My heart immediately started beating out of my chest. ‘WHO? WHERE IS HE?!’ My head turned in every direction. ‘He left.’ Next came a flurry of questions. ‘Was it a tap? A pinch? A squeeze?’ She burst into tears. ‘A squeeze. It hurt A LOT, mama.’ My daughter doesn’t want to go to the playground anymore. She’s scared. I am LIVID.”
‘Oh honey, you should really wait until you lose the baby weight.’ Other customers heard. It took everything in me not to cry.’: Adoptive mom shamed for ‘baby weight’ by jewelry store employee
“I was taking my son to get my wedding ring cleaned. I was feeling so amazing with my baby boy on my hip. I asked about getting my ring soldered together. The lady looked at me and made a scrunched-up face. I didn’t even want to stand there to tell her he was adopted. This was just my body – I didn’t birth him.”
