“All day I kept having a weird feeling—like maybe I should call and ask him, ‘How are you?’ I just put it off as something else. The hospital assured us he was fine. I just shut down. I can’t explain it, but this switch in me just turned off. I don’t remember much after.”
‘OMG! It’s not working. Give him one more dose. ANOTHER.’ Everything went downhill, and FAST.’: Woman recounts heartbreaking and unexpected loss of father, ‘I wouldn’t wish this pain on anyone’
‘What the hell is that? Is it POOP? How did it survive the wash cycle?! Wait, can poop be sanitized?’: Mom hilariously recounts ‘heart-stopping’ moment of confusion, ‘Hang in there, y’all’
“A cold wash of panic flooded my chest. I blinked rapidly. ‘Oh my god, how did poop get in the washing machine?!’ I do not want to have to buy a new washer. Nonetheless, I had to address the situation at hand.”
‘He’s only 11! He’s too young for college.’ She set out to prove I wasn’t smart. I got grouped with disruptive kids.’: 13-year-old attends college, ‘I found a place that challenges me’
“In 1st grade they took my reading score. ‘We’re looking for anything over 50. Over 200 and they’re ready for 2nd grade. Rohan scored 530.’”
‘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.”
‘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.”
‘To my 2020 baby, you are the brightest spot of this difficult year. You are not cursed, you are not bad luck.’: Mom says newborn is ‘the beauty amidst the chaos’
“Whenever I feel overwhelmed by everything in this ‘unprecedented’ year, I hold you. And for a moment, I’m lost in the wonder which is you. You are not responsible for any of the difficulties of 2020, and you are not tied to them.”
‘Do you want to go out for coffee?’ I texted the mother of my daughter’s bully.’: Mom urges ‘we don’t know what others are going through unless we listen’
“This mom, who I didn’t actually know, was having a really hard day — a really hard life, actually. For the first time, I shut my mouth and listened. Not every kid at school has what my daughter has at home.”
‘My biology teacher said, ‘You’re lying. There’s no way you’d be alive without a pancreas.’ I held back tears, mortified. She accused me of my disease not being real.’: Diabetic woman details journey, ‘Our stories need to be heard’
“She tried to embarrass me in front of the class. ‘You’re wrong. I know what was done to my body.’ The room grew quiet as I sat there in shock. She accused me of my disease not being real. I knew right then and there I needed to make a change.”
‘I don’t know who else needs to hear this, but it’s okay if you signed your kid out of virtual class early today.’: Mom reminds us ‘it’s okay if you don’t got this’
“You’re not a bad mom. Some days this less than ideal situation is less than less than ideal. It’s okay if you don’t ‘got this.'”
‘He hates his teacher threatening him to send the principal’s office. It doesn’t work because I’m too soft and tired.’: Mom learns important lesson from son, ‘their innocence is worth keeping a little bit longer’
“He said to it, ‘It’s okay little guy, you’ll be safe here.’ He scooped it up and brought it to me. I realized even though we weren’t ‘schooling’ together, we were both learning.”
