“We made a bear with her voice saying, ‘I love you, Charlotte.’ She was scared Charlotte would forget the sound of her voice. I will never forget the look on her face when my friend dropped her off.”
‘She looks at her like she holds all of the secrets to the world. She had a 10% chance of making it. I begged God for time together.’: Woman births baby with Trisomy 18, ‘I never believed in soulmates until then’
‘Frankly, I was about to pull a Jesus at the Marketplace and send tables flying. Parents, we have to LOWER OUR STANDARDS.’: Mom shares act of ‘grace’ while out with family, urges ‘pay it forward’
“‘Great idea, hon. Let him eat on the filthy restaurant floor!’ A woman at the table behind us turned around in her seat. She was definitely preparing to make some commentary, and my stomach dropped a little. But then she smiled.”
‘Your child is not their test score DURING A PANDEMIC. It’s NOT an indication of how much you love them.’: Mom writes encouraging note to parents, ‘Love leads, learning follows’
“Have them do 2.5 months of spontaneous online instruction via platforms they’ve never used. Now, give them a test. Your child is not a test score.”
‘How are you supposed to bring this baby into the world without his dad? We’ve never experienced something like this before.’: Pandemic mom shares plea for patience
“Please do not complain about having to wear a mask around my baby. YOU DO NOT KNOW unless you’ve had a pandemic baby.”
‘After watching the Disney movie, our 8-year-old daughter couldn’t sleep. My heart ached for her.’: Parents encourage daughter’s empathy, ‘We will not toughen her up’
“At 2 a.m. this morning, as my daughter snuggled into me, I told her stories about bunnies, fields of flowers… Nothing worked. We are protective about what our tender-hearted children see. We are cautious. When I was 9, I watched a movie that traumatized me around the same age. We will not toughen her up.”
‘No human needs to walk around trying their absolute best all the time. Sometimes trying your best is just too tall of an order.’: Mom urges compassion for everyone
“We take in a million messages putting us into good old-fashioned fight or flight. It’s legitimately exhausting. I do not have a drop of ‘trying my best’ left in me.”
‘Jack asked to wear his sister’s pants. He had his eye on them since they appeared. We both paused.’: Mom worries about son’s self expression, ‘Will they chalk it up to us, his two mom’s?’
“I mentioned his choice to my wife. Jack loves all things that sparkle. I wondered what his teachers and other adults might think. We paused immediately.”
‘He gave up visions of Little League for IEP meetings and speech therapy. He avoids the stares, holding his teenager’s hand, and his entire heart.’: Woman pens appreciation letter to Autism Dads
“Late at night, when the rest of the family has gone to bed, he sits in the darkness of the living room. ‘Did I lose my patience too much? Did I apologize too much for my complicated boy?’ Deep inside, he is full of doubt and worry. This tender father is fighting a battle many will never understand.”
‘I know your story. I know what happened to your daughter.’ I felt sad for him. Ours is not a story of triumph.’: Mom shares emotions on child loss, ‘Everything DOES NOT happen for a reason’
“I ran into an old friend the other day. We caught up for a while and then I saw him look down at my arm. Looking back and forth from my tattoo to my eyes he finally said, ‘I know about Blake.'”
‘He’s going to leave you,’ it said. I cried and I shook. I wanted to be a mother for as long as I can remember.’: Woman with endometriosis keeps fighting
“I called Will, asking him to come over so we could discuss my appointment. I told him I was terrified I’d lose my left ovary as quickly as it had taken my right. I cried and I shook, and he held himself steady.”
