“The waitlists for qualified providers are years long. Others who have no idea what it’s like to sit in an ER for days waiting for a psych bed to open insist your child’s symptoms of mental illness are a result of ‘bad parenting.’ Or worse, your child just being ‘bad.'”
‘You’re the parent who tries everything and gets nowhere, but still doesn’t give up.’: Woman pens ode to parents of children battling mental illness
‘I’m here for all your seasons—ALL OF THEM. Whether you’re crying, whining, laughing, I’m here.’: Woman pens touching note to friends
“Not just the ones where we find regular time for each other. Not just the ones when you’re riding the highs. Not just the ones that result in fun as h*ll girls’ nights. Not just the ones that align with mine.”
I Don’t Wait For My Sister To Ask Before I Take Her Baby
“I tell her I’m taking him to the bedroom, turning on my favorite show, and he is mine for the next hour or two.”
‘They had better things to do than feed him.’ He was blue and resembled an alien. ‘OF COURSE, we’ll take him!’: Foster parents adopt shaken baby survivor
“’We have a 2-month-old baby boy, failure to thrive.’ I had never seen anything like him. My husband had tears in his eyes as the caseworker filled us in. They didn’t expect him to do much. That sweet baby boy had given up, but we were not giving up on him.”
‘A week from now marks 5 years since I married the father of my children, and the first wedding anniversary we are no longer a couple.’: Mom peacefully coparents with ex-husband, ‘I wish him everything good and more’
“I will acknowledge it as the day I married a man who is no longer my love, but who will always be in my life. And I will celebrate the 3 children we share. Till death do us part still stands, only in another form.”
‘I saw a 5-year-old being transferred to an institution. ‘We might not get him in time.’ He HAD to be ours.’: Couple adopts special-needs children, ‘Every heart needs a home’
“Our baby had his first open-heart surgery at 3 days old. The timing couldn’t have been worse for adopting someone else. We began the process shortly before heading back to the hospital. Every child deserves a chance.”
‘She’s sending me away. She says I’m a bad kid. Why doesn’t anybody love me?’ I held his little hand, crying hard. ‘Will you adopt me?’: Woman adopts boy from foster care, ‘He’s the missing piece we didn’t know we needed’
“It was a chilly fall night when Zack called. ‘My mom is out of control. I’m scared. I don’t know what to do.’ He was hiding in the driveway. I jumped into the car. ‘Nobody wants me bec—’ We quickly interjected, ‘Nope, it doesn’t matter what happened. We want you. We love you. And you always belong here, no matter what.’ In that moment, we knew he was ours.”
‘It would’ve been our 16th anniversary. ‘I miss the mess,’ is something you and I both never thought I’d say.’: Widow grieves loss of husband as anniversary approaches
“I couldn’t ever imagine a life without you, but here I am doing it. Living in spite of my dreams dying. And I miss it all.”
‘I submitted a refund request for the trip we planned for a year. My son said, ‘Well, I guess I’ll never get a prom.’: Mom reminds us kids are affected by the pandemic too
“’I just really wanted to go to Europe, I’ve wanted to go my whole life.’ This is what I said to my husband. He was laid off from his job and then didn’t work all summer. ‘Mom, I am so mad.’”
‘Mom, what political party are we?’ I told her how I lean, to which she responded, ‘Therefore, I am too.’ Oh, my love, no.’: Mom tells daughter ‘I will love and respect whoever you become’
“You are not a republican or a democrat or an independent or anything else because I am. You are uniquely you, and I will love you and respect whoever you become.”
‘He hates his teacher threatening him to send the principal’s office. It doesn’t work because I’m too soft and tired.’: Mom learns important lesson from son, ‘their innocence is worth keeping a little bit longer’
“He said to it, ‘It’s okay little guy, you’ll be safe here.’ He scooped it up and brought it to me. I realized even though we weren’t ‘schooling’ together, we were both learning.”
‘I feel like a hot mess mom all the time. My children laugh in the face of danger, yours are gentle. While their house is tidy, I turn a blind eye to the bathroom.’: Mom reminds us ‘you’re doing the best you can’
“I’m simply doing the best I can, and that’s just going to have to be enough.”
‘If Uncle Joe talks too much politics, don’t invite him. If sending your kids trick-or-treating will give you too much anxiety, stay home.’: Empath urges ‘give yourself permission to take care of yourself’
“If you’re an empath, 2020 has just about sucked your soul dry. Say no. Spend time only with those who lift you up. Get off social media if you need to. Because that soul of yours? It’s important, too. And this year? It’s proving to be too much.”
‘My mom was unable to come to my house to get my kids ready for school. I am so thankful.’: Single mom says ‘I never really sit down’
“I’m used to juggling my schedule to take care of ‘kid stuff.’ Today, though, things were different. I had my shower, makeup, and hair done before I even had to wake my oldest two boys up for school. So, I sat down.”
‘Do you know why your REAL parents didn’t want you?’ They wonder how much I ‘cost.’ Truth is, love has no limits. Family is not confined or defined by blood.’: Transracial adoptee details journey, ‘I wouldn’t change a thing’
“I was left on the street four days after I was born. Somebody I don’t know took me to the police station. ‘Emma, why do your eyes look like that?’ ‘Are those REALLY your sisters?’ I cherish the only family I have ever known. Love knows no boundaries.”
‘Late to work, I left my dogs behind with full bladders. I spilled my coffee. On my shirt. Three times. My ‘great day’ lasted until the sun came up.’: Widow says ‘survival looks good on you, kid’
“You know what they say: ‘When you plan your spouse’s funeral, you can pretty much do anything.’ I had one of those mornings. Despite all of it, I am surviving. I don’t think we remind each other enough that we’re proud just for making it through the day.”
‘Nobody commented on my bathing suit. Not only that. My butt. I’m sad now, you see. I was never a bikini kind of girl.’: Woman struggling with body positivity says ‘the world isn’t judging you like you think it is’
“I breathed in deep, walked down the hallway. ‘Oh, there she is.’ I can look at this picture and tell you ten thousand ways I hate it. I disrobed to jump in the hot tub with a bunch of friends.”
‘We stopped to watch the construction crew. ‘Wow, what a COOL job!’ They screamed for joy. I pray they never put down others, and always see the value in hard work.’: Parents teach kids all jobs are ‘extremely valuable’
“As the cement mixed, we talked about how important this job is. ‘Almost every building, sidewalk, or road is made of cement. Without strong foundations, things fall or fail.’ I don’t know what they’ll grow up to be, but my prayer is they love the work they do. And I pray they do it with great pride and care.”
‘Oh no, that’s not good!’ My legs were pins and needles. Paramedics surrounded. I was left confused and broke.’: Woman battling MS urges ‘never give up on fighting for your health’
“It was hard for me to focus, understand new material, or even remember what I did the day before. It took me an hour to read 10 pages. Everything I thought I knew how to do, suddenly did not make sense.”
‘I knew about birth control. I told myself, ‘It won’t happen again.’ I was 17 years old and pregnant.’: Woman shares teen pregnancy journey with high school sweetheart
“I was skipping class to go to a free clinic to take a pregnancy test. I was 17 years old and pregnant. I easily could have applied for state aid. We knew we were going to prove them wrong.”
‘Your voice kept getting louder, your face angry. ‘Why do mornings always go like this?’ I was ready to get in the car…almost.’: Mother writes touching note from daughter’s perspective
“I heard you say my whole name and snap at me. You said you were sorry. ‘Can we EVER get out of this house on time?’ I wasn’t trying to make us late.”
‘We see you put self-care on the backburner, skipping workouts and coffee with friends for an IEP meeting.’: Husband pens sweet letter to special needs moms
“You are miracle workers, moving mountains by sheer will.”
‘My leg broke out of nowhere. ‘I need to, literally, cut my losses.’ Nothing was the same again.’: Woman becomes amputee, ‘I don’t regret it for one second’
“I realized I was there but didn’t really feel present. It was as if I was behind a glass wall, watching everyone else. At that moment, something in my brain clicked. I couldn’t do it anymore. I knew what I had to do.”
I Give Myself A Mom Break Every Friday, And You Should Too
“For the past year and a half, I ditch my kids in a safe space and spend the day doing nothing but things that fill my cup.”
‘They could hear the screams as they celebrated their mass together. ‘What did you do?’ this Christian was asked.’: Woman doesn’t want to be ‘the Christian who sings’
“They just tried to drown out what was happening with their singing. They sat in a church and all they did was sing louder. This story runs through my head on repeat. I don’t want to be the Christian who sings.”