“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.”
‘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’
‘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.”
‘I see you spend day after day raising your sweet babies, aching to get her reassurance you are doing it all right.’: Woman pens touching letter to ‘the mother without a mother’
“I see you aching for those phone calls, those visits, those reassurances, those moments. I see you thinking time and time again, ‘If only I could call mom right now to ask her.'”
‘He let out a big sigh. ‘I feel funny asking, but does Autism last forever? Will he have it when we are old and in heaven?’: Mom to autistic son urges ‘have the emotional and honest conversations’
“I didn’t answer right away. I wanted to listen. He went on to say, ‘I remember when I was little mama and Cooper had it. I couldn’t figure him out. I used to think he was from a different planet because he screamed all the time.’ He sighed. ‘I just wish sometimes it would go away so we could talk.'”
‘She got hold of my phone. I’m scrolling through my phone and see that she took pictures of me without me realizing it.’: Mom struggling with mental health says ‘you are enough just as the mom you already are’
“As I type this, I’m sitting on the potty. Was that TMI? Ugh, I’m sorry. My four-year-old snapped this image of me today.”
‘You are His masterpiece, beautiful girl. You can’t compete with an edited image of another girl. You’re already valuable.’: Mom says ‘your worth cannot be measured from the outside’
“When I delivered you in the hospital and saw your face for the very the first time, I was instantly in love with all of you. God gave you the exact color of eyes and hair on your head, and gifts and talents for a reason. Your worth and value can’t be measured from the outside.”
‘On the way into the house, he slipped and smashed his head onto the floor. ‘I cannot take this kid to the ER right now.’: Mom realizes ‘big feelings’ toddler is wrestling during quarantine
“My patience was pretty thin, and I snapped at him. What else did he want??? And then the tears kept coming. I took a longer look at that little pudgy boy in his pjs, crying over nothing. And I realized, more clearly than I have all week, that he’s not crying over nothing.”
‘Whatever the day looks like, I’ll be there. This parent loves you bigger than any global pandemic.’: Mom urges ‘love on each other hard, even when the world is going bonkers’
“Maybe making you feel loved, safe, and secure has nothing to do with routine, or with schedules. Maybe, just maybe, it has everything to do with us.”
