“The tears fall. She gives me the wave off with her hand saying, ‘Never mind.’ I’ve faced frustration, but never like this.”
‘A woman scans my groceries, says something to me. ‘I can’t hear.’ I tell her to write. She gives me a dismissive hand wave.’: Deaf woman reminds us to be patient during the pandemic. ‘It goes a long way’
‘Everything’s going to be alright,’ we whisper. She can swoop in and make it all better, but she doesn’t have superpowers.’: Mom says ‘we’re humans that struggle too’
“You see, she’s been fighting mental illness on top of a pandemic. She’s been worrying about her kids every second of the day. She’s been trying to make everyone’s world as normal as possible, and guess who’s forgotten? Her. Don’t let her carry all the burden alone.”
‘Sorry, I’m just tapped out.’ I said this to my kids’ teacher as she requested a private zoom. I’m trying to function in the unfunctionable.’: Mom of 5 says ‘we’re freaking rockstars’
“At the same time as this, I had two other kids hopping on their google meets, I had to pull my oldest from her work to hold the baby, the kids’ Dad had a call just starting, and as I struggled with my laptop to even find which Godforsaken link I needed to even click, I was ready to crumble.”
‘Finally,’ I thought, ‘I’m going to get SO MUCH DONE!’ I burnt out, and I burnt out HARD. My husband sat me down. ‘What’s going on with you?’: Woman urges ‘take each day as it comes’
“I started snapping at my family and avoiding the few social Zoom meetings I was invited to. I was gripped every day by a threatening cloud of anxiety of ‘not getting enough done’ and ‘not taking advantage of this time off.’ My husband sat me down on the couch. ‘What’s going on with you?’ I dove right in.”
‘Her husband came home. ‘There’s something very important we need to talk about.’ I was jealous of her life. She seemed to have the perfect family.’: Woman urges ‘nobody has it all figured out’
“I sat there, rapt, as she began to deconstruct every assumption I had about her life like someone unraveling a sweater. She was desperate. Her husband had come home and said he had something very important to talk about. Layla was so sure he was about to admit to cheating with his favorite employee she burst into tears.”
‘You should get up before your kids.’ I’ve tried it your way, but I’m a night owl. My brain functions best around 10 p.m.’: Mom pens ode to night owls, ‘We are just as valuable’
“My house gets cleaned at 10 p.m. That’s when my lists get made. That’s when I have all my ‘bright’ ideas. When I find myself up before the sun, all I want to do is cry and stare at the wall and go back to sleep. I can prepare for the day just as well at midnight.”
‘Mother’s Day didn’t mean as much to me when my mom was still alive as it does now that she’s dead.’: Woman feels ‘lucky’ for time with mother before passing
“My mother passed away just before Mother’s Day, and just before what would have been her birthday. Now, Mother’s Day without a mother weighs down on me each year, a heaviness on my chest. It’s not a sharp pain. It’s an empty feeling that’s hard to shake.”
‘We received a call from the attorney. ‘I have bad news. The birth mom changed her mind. She already delivered and decided to continue parenting.’: After miracle preemie, mom becomes adoptive and foster mom
“Shortly after, we arrived at the hospital. We wanted her to know we forgave her. The nerves were high. ‘Who are you?’ the nurse asked. They were surprised to see us. It was clear there was more going on behind the scenes. We contemplated leaving for hours, but then we received a text: ‘Come back and meet your son.’ We were in complete shock. Our birth mom changed her mind, AGAIN.”
‘She cried, then I cried too. Six years and three kids later, I still feel like that new mom again, waiting for the moment it all clicks.’: Mom says ‘even when it feels impossible, you will keep going’
“I’m still waiting for the moment where I know exactly what I’m doing. Because truth is, I rarely do. While I don’t always feel like Mom of the Year—I still feel like a mother. Her mother. And most days, a pretty good one.”
‘What is she doing?’ I was rolling around the block when a little boy saw me and fell off his bike. He couldn’t take his eyes off me.’: Woman in wheelchair touched by stranger’s inclusive language
“The father mentioned nothing about sickness, weakness, disability, pity. There was no shaming the kid for asking inappropriate questions or for staring. No apologizing to me.”
