“I stood in the checkout line. I laughed so hard I nearly peed my pants. Perplexed by my behavior, my friends asked what was so funny about the headlines. I was officially obligated to explain.”
‘I picked up one of the magazines, ‘How to Save Your Marriage by Having an Open Marriage.’: Woman shares 7 reasons why ‘boring marriages are beautiful’
‘I’m the woman, so I do everything.’ TOTAL. CRAP. When I woke up night after night, it was the expectation.’: Woman urges equal parenting, ‘Stop carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders’
“I got bitter and resentful from doing it all alone. I watched my husband’s life change what seemed to be very little as we added offspring. His body stayed intact while I didn’t at all recognize my new shape. The lies had clearly taken over my soul.”
‘Wedding rings are a symbol of ownership. We don’t wear them. I don’t identify with the word ‘wife.’: Married woman talks terms of marriage, ‘We are in a partnership’
“I am a fully committed feminist, and will kill a bug if I need to. He doesn’t determine my happiness. The husband is the boss, the father gives away the daughter. I don’t identify with any of it.”
‘When are you going to have kids?’ I cringe any time I hear that question.’: Woman urges ‘PLEASE think before asking’ after 2-year battle with infertility
“When people asked me that when I was first married, I thought nothing of it. I would respond, ‘Oh we are just going to enjoy married life for a while, maybe in a couple of years.’ They don’t realize the heartache. The feelings and sense of failure behind that question.”
‘I thought I was dying. The pain was so bad, all I did was writhe and vomit for 8 hours. After it was over, I felt an incredible emptiness.’: Woman claims lemonade cliché is true, ‘All this tragedy happened for a reason’
“Our loss had to be so bad that it was newsworthy. Without it, Mac wouldn’t be here with us. If I didn’t believe it before, I now most certainly knew that every damn thing that happened TO ME over the last 40 years of my life actually happened FOR ME.”
‘Valentine’s Day is living out of a laundry basket. It’s no cuddly bears, late dinner, and wondering, ‘Who left the milk on the counter?’: Woman shares candid reality of Valentine’s Day as a mom and wife, ‘There’s no place I’d rather be’
“He’d get home late from work with jewelry and a stuffed teddy bear. We’d spend hours getting dressed at our parents’ homes and act like we just ‘threw something on.’ We’d eat at a nice restaurant. It was cute. Today, he’ll work 9 hours, I’ll work 12. It’s a series of crazy, chaotic moments. It’s not eating dinner until 7 p.m. No cuddly bears or shiny jewelry. It’s living out of a laundry basket for days, and figuring out who’s going to the birthday party.”
‘Donald, will you wash my hair?’ I sunk into the tub, defeated. He heard my desperate plea through the bathroom door.’: Woman urges ‘ask your spouses for help’ after husband’s act of kindness
“You know those kinds of days where everything that can go wrong does? Yesterday was that day. I’d gotten no sleep before the littles began stirring. The rest of the day was a blur of school lessons, cleaning, runs to multiple stores for ONE thing. Supper was a complete FAIL. I needed to wash my hair because, let’s face it, one can only use dry shampoo for so long, but I hadn’t any energy to muster for that daunting task. Then a thought silently crept across my mind: ‘Ask Donald.’ I had to lay my pride aside.”
‘It’s okay, Chris,’ my mother said to him. ‘I’m here.’ My father was groaning in immense pain. Tears fell onto my jeans.’: Woman finds true meaning of marriage during father’s battle with cancer
“As I leaned toward the mirror, slipping mascara onto my lashes, I heard more grumbling. I froze. I was stuck in their moment with no place to go. ‘I’m so sorry,’ my father said. I sat on my bed, the door cracked open. I was a self-absorbed, twenty-something at the time, bouncing back and forth between two men like a rubber ball. But this moment struck me. Tears fell onto my jeans because I finally realized something—THIS is marriage.”
‘Looks like you have two babies in there. Oh wait, sorry, three babies!’ There was already a complication. ‘High risk? Mono-what? They had a 50% chance of not making it to birth.’: Mom of five reflects on high-risk triplet pregnancy
“I was staring at the biggest shock of my life. But multiples don’t run in either of our families, so I knew it was unlikely. The fact they were mono-mono twins gave them a 50% chance of not making it to birth.”
‘Michelle, we haven’t had sex in a year.’ My husband rolled over in bed with a blank look on his face.’: Couple stress importance of ‘boundaries’ in marriage, ‘You don’t owe your partner anything’
“My doctor’s cold hands pressed against my breasts. ‘No lumps, but let me process the urine sample.’ 5 minutes later, she retuned with a beaming look on her face. ‘You’re pregnant! Congrats!’ I’m…what? Who? How? ‘Infertile’ and on birth control, I was in utter disbelief! We went from a quiet little house in Suburbia to catapulted into parenthood. I had no energy or desire for intimacy. We hit the one-year mark completely sexless.”
