“I looked around, boxes still unpacked, dishes to be done, dinner not yet cooked, and snow-day mess abounding, but this time instead of my mental checklist on repeat, I heard something different. That small voice that gently whispered, ‘How much longer will they want to do this with you?’”
‘But mama, we want to go sledding with you.’ Both girls looked at me with pleading eyes. I knew I had to go. I paused.’: Mom struggles to drop everything for her kids during holidays
‘I wear lots of ‘hats.’ I’m a mom, wife, boss. You’re allowed to say F it and throw them up in the air for the day.’: Woman urges us to let our guard down, ‘don’t hold it together for everyone else’s sake’
“I’m a wife that loves and supports her husband in anything he does. A mom who can heal boo boos with a kiss and turn a frown upside down. A boss who has to make the tough calls and not loose her mind when sh*t hits the fan. When life gets overwhelming, it’s okay to let your guard down. Throw one of those ‘hats’ up in the air for the day. Just be sure to catch it and try again tomorrow.”
‘I went back to work. We needed an income. I’m just going to say it, I don’t feel guilty. I love it.’: Mom enters workforce after 5-year break raising babies, ‘I still wanted my identity’
“Love makes a home, but it doesn’t keep one, and we needed an income. Is there guilt? Well, I listened to the PTA president of my kid’s school talk about how good it is for mothers to be involved. Thanks Betty! Perfect timing. Then there’s missing the baby because he’s asleep when you left, and asleep when you get home. But I’m just going to say it, I don’t feel guilty. I love it.”
‘Dear working mom, you’re who I mean when I say my little girls can be anyone they want to be.’: Woman praises working moms in touching letter, ‘we are all rooting for you’
“You hear the phrase ‘having it all’ and actually cringe, because you know it’s a big, big lie. Each day, you’re in charge of pleasing 2 very different, but demanding people: your boss and your kids. You feel guilty for leaving your kids. Maybe you feel guilty because you like to get a break from your kids, even though you can’t. It’s not easy. From the bottom of my heart to yours, thanks for pulling off something not every woman can.”
‘Mommy, change my diaper!’ Someday, I’ll quit using dry shampoo and be me again.’: Mom shares candid look at the loss of personal identity that comes with parenting
“Someday, I’ll quit using dry shampoo. I’ll dye my hair regularly and take care of my nails. I’ll choose my clothing as a fashion statement instead of knotting my shirt over a stain. I’ll even read grown-up books instead of books about little monsters. But right now isn’t that ‘someday.’ And I’m okay with being mostly mommy.”
‘How are you?’ a friend emailed. It’s 2 weeks old. I’m parenting young kids, and I suck at being a friend.’: New mom acknowledges parenting has hurt her relationships, ‘this stage doesn’t last forever’
“I stare at a picture of smiling faces. We look happy, relaxed. ‘Remember this day? So much fun!’ she wrote. We were connected then. An unbreakable bond of friendship. Now, we only talk every few months in emails like this, often forgotten by me. I feel guilt wash over me. I’m knee-deep in parenting. I’ve changed.”
‘Was it my fault?’ My kid missed a play we practiced 100 times and cost his team the game.’: Mom reminds us sports are about ‘love for the game,’ claims ‘my son’s efforts are never wrong’
“He let the ball roll right between his legs with bases loaded in the last inning of the last game of the season. I wanted to scream at him. I was so angry. As he walked out of the dugout with shrugged shoulders, I felt a shameful sinking feeling.”
‘I can’t decide if I want a baby! I’ll ruin my career,’ my friend messaged. I was brutally honest.’: Woman ‘mourns’ loss of life pre-motherhood, ‘I gave up a lot, but I gained so much more’
“The last thing I want is a friend crying to me over the phone, holding her newborn, telling me she’s not cut out for this. So, I told her the truth. That most nights I sleep 4 hours. My relationship suffered, my body changed, and I got the baby blues. That I’m still mourning the carefree girl I was before, who loved not knowing what tomorrow would bring. I’m still letting her go.”
‘You’ll ruin my life if you have this baby.’ I said, ‘Fine, I’ll do it alone.’ And I did.’: Single mom school bus driver with no maternity leave takes newborn on route with her, ‘This job saved me’
“I was scared. My job as a school bus driver doesn’t offer maternity leave, I had no savings (hello, single mom!) and I couldn’t afford to just not work. I was due 3 weeks before school started. Her father wasn’t in the operating room for her birth. ‘You robbed me of a great moment, never contact me again.’ He moved across the country without even seeing her. It was official. There would be no co-parenting, I was once again a single mom. I had to make this work.”
‘Are you having twins? You’re HUGE!’ The comments hurt. It blew me away.’: Pregnant mom shocked by rude strangers’ comments, ‘I was no longer a person with feelings’
“Waking up to a surgeon showing me pictures of my ovaries was shocking. I remember the tears falling down my face, feeling sick at the sight of them. My husband slept in a chair by my bed until the nurses finally sent him home. ‘It’s time to push!’ they said. I felt nothing from my waist down. This is not how I wanted it to happen.”
