“I angled my body toward the door and pointed. My mom eyes were out in full force. My tiny human was lying in the grass of the front yard, kicking and screaming words I could not make out because he couldn’t fit a dinosaur into his frog backpack. I think I heard something about me being a bad mommy. So you know what I did? I completely lost it. LOST IT.”
‘I growled, ‘Get in the house. NOW!’ I kicked my heels off. I looked up to see the neighbor across the street watching.’: Mom urges ‘don’t give up, mama – the things that overwhelm you are what make life worth living’
‘You have to work. Stay-at-home moms are lazy and uneducated.’ He brainwashed me. He refused to adopt my girls in order to get child support money.’: Man adopts wife’s children in wake of divorcing abusive ex
“I got pregnant one month after meeting my daughter’s biological father. I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I have everything I’ve ever wanted. I can stay home and take care of the kids.’ Instead, I cried myself to sleep every night in fear of being killed. ‘A stay-at-home mom is lazy and uneducated.’ He brainwashed me. I was forced to work from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. I wasn’t allowed to see my kids.”
‘Is this the time they fire me?’ I see you practicing your speech for your boss on why you have to leave early AGAIN. I see you racing home to MAYBE make it in time.’: Mom details the guilt of being a working parent
“We are told ‘You can be whatever you want to be! You don’t have to live in a 1950’s mindset! You can be a CEO!’ What they don’t tell you is the pit in your stomach you feel when you get a notice about a 6 p.m. conference on the day of your kids practice or activity. The panic when your kid’s school calls and asks you to pick them up because they are sick and you don’t want your bosses to be upset.”
‘We don’t get sick days. We’re late to everything. We’re expected to work like we don’t have children and raise children like we don’t have careers.’: Working mom shares candid peek into her ‘beautifully chaotic’ life
“We come home from work already exhausted. Every time we actually sit down to eat, someone needs more of something. All week, we’re an Uber to small, crying humans that don’t tip well. Laundry. Is. Our. ENEMY. We are ALWAYS torn between excelling in our career or rocking it as a mom.”
‘I miss punching out. I miss the thank you’s and ‘you’re doing a great job.’ I miss not having to awkwardly stumble through, ‘What do you do?’: Stay-at-home mom shares candid reality of ‘high stakes’ motherhood
“This work leaks into every part of my life. There’s not a minute that’s safe. It calls in the middle of the night, during hair appointments, and workouts. Vacation doesn’t exist. I miss getting ready. I miss the compliments on my outfit and hair. The hot coffee, and people who got my jokes. When my brain operated well enough to form them. But I know the one thing I’d always miss more than work, are my children.”
‘The entire school pick-up line saw me. I was 10 minutes late and blocked a bunch of cars and was told NEVER to park there.’: Mom declares she has ‘had enough’
“Today left me feeling like I am not sure if I want to drink, do drugs, or run away to a tropical island and tan my whiteness. But none of those were an option, so instead I cried. I couldn’t hold back the tears quick enough for no one to see me. It isn’t fair.”
‘People always tell me how lucky I am to be a stay-at-home mom. All I can think is, ‘Then why do I feel so f*cking lonely all the time?’: Woman shares candid reality of being a stay-at-home parent
“When I gave birth to my daughter at 19, people always asked, ‘When do you plan to go back to work?’ When I said I planned to be a stay-at-home mom, they’d always say how appreciative I should be. Nobody tells you how draining being stuck in the same routine, everyday, is. The same pile of dishes, the same pile of laundry, the same toys lying all over the floor. No matter how many hours are in a day, you still won’t feel like you’ve done enough.”
‘Parenting is a woman’s burden. If the house isn’t clean, it’s a mother’s fault. If a mother wants to have drinks, she should be responsible. If Dad wants to, it’s OK.’: Wife grateful for husband who ‘assists in this parenting journey’
“‘Must be nice to have a husband who helps,’ they tell me. He will never carry the burden that I do. Dad’s babysit (so I’m told every time I leave our children with my husband), while us mothers look after their children.”
‘He said, ‘I can’t do this,’ and left. I got a late-night call from the pastor. ‘He’s gone.’ As soon as he said it, I knew. He lost his battle with PTSD.’: Woman loses Army veteran boyfriend to suicide, ‘I was terrified to be a single mother. It’s not supposed to be this way.’
“As a combat veteran, he faced mental illness. We agreed to tackle everything as a team. I was pregnant again, but this time everything shifted. He left. I was so confused and hurt. ‘Where did he go? Is he okay?’ I found out he was living two completely separate lives, lying about his marital status. My entire world turned upside down. But I still couldn’t find him. I searched. I drove around aimlessly. ‘He is gone.’ As soon as he said it, I knew. My heart started pounding. ‘Oh my gosh,’ I said over and over again. The man I love took his life.”
‘Your to-do list is ambitious, but someone else needs you more. When those little eyes fill with tears, the dishes will always wait.’: Mom pens letter ‘to the parents who can’t get it all done’
“I bet you woke up with a list of things you needed to do today. I did, too. You had appointments to schedule, bills to pay, and yes, the bathrooms will get done today! But then a little hand reached for yours. Your breath caught in your throat as she looked straight back at you. Mine did, too. She is the best thing you’ve ever seen.”
