“I saw him in the deep end. I called his name. His arms were moving fast but he didn’t answer me. I saw a look of terror in his eyes. I jumped in, fully clothed. ‘What’s going on?!,’ my husband asked. All I remember saying is, ‘He was drowning.’ When he came out, he kept asking to go home. It sounds crazy, but I felt like he needed to get back in the pool.”
‘Mom, I keep thinking today could’ve been my last day. You saved my life. I’m so glad you jumped in.’: 8-year-old son who nearly drowned encourages mom to share his story to ‘help even just one kid stay safe’
‘Call the attorney. Tell her you changed your mind,’ he said with gun-in-hand. I was breathless.’: Husband adopts formerly abused wife’s adult sons after their biological father dies from addiction
“I got a call that my 3-year-old had been left at Disney daycare at 2 a.m. The daycare worker called the police. My husband was a master manipulator. This was the last straw. We fled to another state. One night, I got a knock on my apartment door. The door NO ONE knew where I was. My ex was released from jail 2 days prior. With every being in my bones, I knew it was him.”
‘Mom, why did we only get him for 3 years and not for a real, whole life?’: Mom urges parents to know ‘drowning happens, to real people, in seconds’ after son ‘slips away’ to pool 2 floors below
“I asked him for the hundredth time: ‘Do you ever go near the water without me?’ He shook his head adamantly and said: ‘No way, Mama. Then I wouldn’t see you again, and we would be so sad.’ I never imagined these words would come true.”
‘I saw a 3-year-old girl step onto a subway of Las Vegas strangers ALONE, and the doors were closing. I met eyes with a mom. Then, the subway bolted off.’ Woman recounts how ‘every mother’s nightmare’ of losing a child became reality
“The mom was gathering an unholy ton of luggage, and had turned away for just a moment. She looked up with absolute horror. People were suddenly shoulder to shoulder, crammed like sardines. I bent down to a sweet, terrified girl. Quiet tears fell before the shaking of her small sobs could be heard. There was no police. No security guard. No one, but her.”
‘Stop telling moms not to blink. It’s okay for us to miss some stuff.’ Mom’s candid response to those who claim ‘we only have 18 summers’ so ‘make your moments count’
“Don’t tell me we only have 18 summers. I’m a mom who can’t get enough of my kids, but quickly has ‘had enough.’ I’m a mom who wanted nothing more than to be a wife and a mother, and here I am, being those things. Well, guess what? It’s a lot harder than I ever imagined.”
‘Twelve hours after we were in the water, he woke up with a fever, chills and cramping. His legs started to hurt severely. The nurses had never seen anything like it.’ Daughter warns of flesh eating bacteria that took her father’s life
“They took him back immediately. As they were helping him get changed into his hospital gown, they saw this terribly swollen black spot on his back that was not there before. My mom sent me a picture of it, and it felt like someone sucker punched me. Flesh Eating Bacteria sounds like an urban legend. Let me assure you, it is not.”
‘I asked her when vacation starts. ‘In a week. I’m DREADING it. I already lied to my church and said Nicholas was 5 so he could go to Vacation Bible School.’ This warmed my soul.’
“One of my girlfriends called. We’ve been friends for almost 20 years. We sugarcoat nothing. Summer is NOT amazing. And if you ask your kids, it’s BORING. These vacation snapshots are the best 5 minutes of the day. The other 23 hours and 55 minutes are a complete cesspool.”
‘We went to the beach. She swam in the pool at our hotel. Then she woke up with severe pain in her calf. We thought it was a Charlie horse. I was so wrong.’
“My baby girl’s leg had swelled, had a red line running down her calf and was warm to the touch. Her fever rose to 103. Everything started going downhill. It can be contracted by a scrape, wound, new tattoo, or even a bruised area of skin. It is CRITICAL to be aware of the signs.”
‘They would only keep me if I agreed to do electroconvulsive therapy. People warned me. I was told I shouldn’t do it. I felt I had no other option. To me, it was this or death.’
“I remember being rolled into an operation room while lying in a hospital bed. I looked up at the ceiling and prayed this would work. I was nervous. Quickly, the anesthesia knocked me out. I received over 10 treatments. My body ached, but not as much as my soul. I longed for peace.”
‘There’s one season that really brings out my working mom guilt. Hint, hint, it’s the same as swimsuit season.’
“The teachers are counting down, the students are hyping up, the pools are about to open, and everyone’s ready for some good summer fun! Everyone except those of us who don’t get a break. The faint tune of the ice cream truck on a Tuesday afternoon is all the gut-punch it takes to make my eyes swell with tears.”
