“I woke up to the sound of him sharting in his crib.”
‘Jagger, what are you eating?!’ He was smirking with pink stuff near his mouth. ‘Ohhh noo!’: Mom hilariously urges ‘keep laxatives out of reach of your children’
‘I don’t look like your stereotypical pregnant woman. I won’t have that little bump. This isn’t the body I envisioned myself carrying in, but it so worthy.’: Expecting mom ‘thankful’ for unplanned pregnancy, ‘My weight stopped me from happiness’
“I used to think I would allow myself to get pregnant once I had lost all this weight. I blackmailed myself against the one thing I truly wanted in life. All my life, I’ve written off happiness because I wasn’t the ‘correct’ size.”
‘I woke up to find this picture. I generally get annoyed at whoever took it. But this picture was different.’: Mom reminds others to capture childhood moments, ‘Be proud of these pictures’
“Normally, when I see a picture of myself that I haven’t ‘posed’ for, I never post it. But not this time. He snuck this picture of me and my daughter. I don’t ever want to forget it.”
‘After the birth of my second child, I found myself at 206 lbs. It’s embarrassing to admit. I look rough, aged, even ugly.’: Mom offers encouragement to others struggling with body image, ‘You’ve never looked better’
“I used to see pictures of myself and think I looked FAB. Until I wasn’t. Until I got married, had one baby, and then two. I’m not picture-perfect.”
‘We’re so lucky your dad still has his job.’ I don’t know how we’ll do it another day, another week, another year.’: Mom of special needs son says ‘being his caregiver is a whole life job’
“Most children don’t depend on their parents for everything their entire lives. We always worry about illness. He’s nonverbal, cannot walk, has a feeding tube, and recently has been diagnosed with a seizure disorder. But then, I look at Christopher and smile.”
‘Vague bickering. Brace yourself, it starts. ‘I’m telling mommy!’ They stampede like elephants, each screaming over the other.’: Mom talks sibling rivalry, ‘Remember they really do love each other’
“‘Guys, guys, guys…GUYS! Just stop for one moment!!!! Please for the love of all that is holyyyy…’ By this point, my Fight and Flight responses are in overdrive. I’m honestly instinctually ready to flee the home or drop kick one of them (neither of which I can rationally do).”
‘Where did this come from?’ My mom will stop at nothing to get ‘the mom bag’ to me.’: Woman says ‘no pandemic can silence a mother’s love’
“I glanced in the backseat and saw a grocery bag on the floor that hadn’t been there before. There’s never anything in ‘the mom bag’ that would look valuable to an outsider. But I know its worth. It speaks of mothering that does not end.”
‘My 5-year-old turned to me, suddenly serious. ‘You shouldn’t eat too much, Mom. Or you get fat like Christy and Tammy.’ I felt tears tickling my eyes.’: Mom urges ‘all bodies are valid’
“We sat down to watch another episode of Scooby-Doo. My daughter laughed as Scooby and Shaggy devoured a pile of hamburgers. ‘They ate too much!’ she giggled. Then she got serious. I felt tears tickling my eyes. Christy and Tammy are two of my friends. This is the curse that has been placed on me, on so many of us.”
‘I watched my husband come alive under the appreciation of another woman. Somewhere between the dirty laundry and dishes, I stopped laughing at his jokes.’: Woman says ‘your husband is funny, don’t forget to notice’
“When I was 22, he was the funniest man on earth. My cheeks hurt every time I was with him. Now, between the dirty laundry and pile of dishes, I could sprain my neck from how hard I roll my eyes in his direction. Every joke my husband tossed she caught with enthusiasm. He looked alive. His eyes were wide and his mouth was in a permanent grin.”
‘I am not a doula to hold babies, I am a doula to hold mothers who so often come in last.’: Doula says ‘I will honor and serve these selfless women’
“While she focuses on her baby and the work she must do on this day, I will focus on her. I hold a crown in my hand and a tenderness in my heart that I give to her when she feels weak. But I do not worry, for she is everything that child needs.”
