LJ Herman is a former editor at Love What Matters and lives in Colorado. LJ is a concert, ticket and technology enthusiast. He has seen the Dave Mathews Band over one hundred times and counting.
‘The Great Pause,’ I’ve heard it called. I’d been making emotional progress. Then Covid happened.’: Mom says ‘forget your 5-year plan’ after losing daughter to epilepsy
“It’s been six months since my daughter died.”
‘I hear, ‘Your virginity is a gift to your future spouse.’ Once you cross ‘the’ line, you can never have your purity back.’: Woman advocates for others to be ‘true to ourselves’
“Your lack of sexual experience and ignorance about what you like and want in the bedroom–Oooo, fun! ‘Because once you cross ‘the’ line, you can never have your purity back.'”
‘Last night we learned of the death of a toddler his age as we watched the news. Emergency rooms aren’t filled with kids like him.’: Mom of special needs child says ‘the least I can do is keep my family out of your care’
“I found myself grasping for perspective. There isn’t anything that will stop a parent of a special needs child for being there when their kids need them, not even COVID-19. The least I can do is work to keep my family out of your care.”
‘She’s 12 years old and has her first job. Four days a week. I don’t know about you, but I know for sure I wasn’t doing this.’: Mom proud of 12-year-old for first job, ‘There is not a sliver of my younger self in her’
“It’s about way more than money. If this is any indication of what the future holds, I could not be more excited.”
‘Our 2-year-old went from no pee-pee accidents to 3 a day. Our 10-year-old started to baby talk and ask me for water when she’s totally capable.’: Mom of 7 reminds us ‘regression’ is normal
“Yet nearly every morning, my husband makes and brings me a cuppa.”
‘It was day 3 of a sinus headache. My toddler would not stop shrieking and my partner was unavailable. I wasn’t just irritable, I was angry.’: Mom says there’s no shame in being an ‘angry parent’
“I felt I did not deserve because I had done everything I was supposed to avoid getting sick and felt cheated. If my children did something that scared me, I would yell and shame them for it. I wasn’t just irritable, I was angry.”
‘Today I ran into an old acquaintance I haven’t seen in years. She told me, ‘You put on weight!’ Her words still cut deep today.’: Woman struggling with mental health says ‘I am more than my physical appearance’
“I never comment on anyone’s body because I know. You’re right. I have put on weight. She meant it as a compliment.”
‘I got pregnant a month after turning 21. I am living through a deployment and now, like everyone, surviving a pandemic.’: Mom asks others not to judge, ‘They should feel validated in their sorrow’
“After being on my own for five years, I moved in with family again (thanks deployment). Every single one of those situations brought a screeching halt to what I had planned ahead. People who imagined 2020 to be THEIR year, I absolutely see you.”
‘I don’t know where you guys live, but where I am, there’s structure and a schedule. It’s flexible and resilient.’: Woman reminds others to ‘find happiness in what’s in front of us’
“I don’t have to set my alarm. My husband and I stay up late watching our favorite show. We’ll be staying at home until the summer.”
‘I quickly pick up my phone and have a peek at Zoom. I was scammed by my 5-year old. It looked like he was listening.’: Mom hilariously pranked by 5-year-old, ‘Today’s home school session was mildly unsupervised’
“Today’s home school session was mildly unsupervised. He had his sisters iPad, propped up and situated perfectly in front of his iPad’s camera lenses. A picture of him sitting at the desk looking slightly amused. Scammed by a 5-year-old. I AM DEAD.”