“I missed out on so much. I missed out on moments I can never get back. Finally, I realized enough is enough. My kids, my family, my (true) friends absolutely DO NOT care how I look in a swimsuit, and I will bet you my next paycheck yours don’t either.”
‘I used to avoid social gatherings because I was so scared to be seen in a swimsuit. I would sit outside the pool, fully clothed, as my kids begged me to have fun with them.’: Woman urges ‘you are more than what you look like in a swimsuit’
‘I told my husband it made sense to leave my 6-figure job. I’d keep the house spotless. I was going to be a domestic goddess.’: Mom says ‘your kids will think you’re a superhero no matter what’
“Without a full-time job weighing me down, I was going to be the domestic goddess I had always dreamed of becoming. A cookie-baking trophy wife who worked out regularly, kept a beautiful home, and had a fiery libido. His life would get SO MUCH BETTER. Needless to say, I am none of those things.”
‘I work full time and over time, I’m a full-time student getting a Master’s Degree. But still, I cook dinner.’: Woman says ‘it’s the little things you can do to help your spouse’
“Not every night. Hell, not even most nights. But when I can, I do. Too often we get wrapped up in our separate lives outside of our marriage.”
‘Dear husband, I am struggling. The load I carry is more than I can bear, but you can’t fix it.’: Mom tells husband ‘I will be okay as long as you are with me’
“I know you think that if you take a few of these balls I’m juggling, I will be okay. But I won’t. It’s much deeper than that. Be the safe place I need to fall apart.”
‘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’
“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.”
‘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.”
