“She had 2 months worth of toilet paper, cleaning products, and dry food. She said it, ‘Wasn’t her fault.’ My friend is a teacher with MS who has been to 3 stores today searching for basics. Preparing shouldn’t look like hoarding.”
‘She ‘stocked up’ on a 2-month supply. ‘I shouldn’t have to put my family in jeopardy just because others don’t know how to prepare.’: Mom says ‘preparing shouldn’t look like hoarding’
‘As you push past another shopper, determined to be the first one through the checkout line, your children are watching.’: Mom reminds us to hold our children tight, ‘Your actions speak just as loudly as your words’
“You fretfully throw toilet paper and hand-sanitizer into your shopping cart. You rigorously wash your hands, for the fourth time this hour. ‘Are we going to be okay, mama?’ they ask on the car ride home. Your actions speak just as loudly as your words.”
‘Mommy, kids were yelling and happy, but I’m scared.’ She tearfully told me students poured into the hallways after dismissal. I choked back sobs.’: Mom says ‘if we are engaged, we can teach our kids coping skills and resiliency’
“I knew my husband was there to get her but I was too far away in that moment. I know that panic because I’ve had it too. These are the generations that were born and raised post 9-11. They are a generation that grew up practicing active shooter drills at school. Yet they kept going to school. Until now.”
‘I noticed an elderly man standing behind a bridge. ‘Excuse me sir, are you OK?’ He turned and looked at me. ‘I’m OK love. I’m just admiring the view.’: Woman says elderly are ‘most at risk and most hopeful’
“‘Oh no,’ I thought. Was he panicking? Was he all alone and afraid? He turned around and said, ‘Lovely day, isn’t it?’ He tipped his hat, gave me a smile, and walked off in the direction of home. In all of this, they are the most calm. The most brave. The most hopeful. They aren’t stock piling pasta or toilet rolls, they are looking out for themselves and others.”
‘My youngest son had a stroke while in the check-out line at the grocery store.’: Mom to son with heart disease says ‘it kills more than corona, but I won’t let either stop our lives’
“Even though we’ve been told to ‘quarantine,’ that doesn’t mean I’m going to allow anxiety steal our daily joy we have fought so hard for. We’ve been given more time, and we’re not going to take it for granted.”
‘You are being asked to substitute teach without adequate training or preparation. Do not try to copy school at home.’: Mom of 7 reminds quarantined parents ‘there’s no right or wrong here’
“No training or preparation. This would not be allowed in our classrooms. Resist the urge to plan every minute. Have reasonable expectations or no expectations at all.”
‘There are a lot of ‘what-ifs’ in the world right now, so I decided it was time to pull out the tutus and let the magic begin.’: Woman spreads joy and laughter to strangers during coronavirus outbreak with rainbow tutus
“As we all stress and worry about the unknowns during this worldwide crisis, we decided we had to do something to bring a smile, happiness, and a few moments of laughter to our little corner of this world we inhabit.”
‘Do these things actually work?’ I paid $14.99 for these suckers. I’m going all in.’: Woman shares hilarious sticky bra fail, ‘I chose poorly’
“I have gathered you here to talk about my boobs. I think most of us are skeptical about sticky bras for obvious reasons. Y’all, I have kids. These are working girls. I am a survivor. I assumed I could handle a floppy boob sticker.”
‘I could never date someone without hair.’ I’ll never forget the look of disgust on his face.’: Woman with alopecia ditches wig, ‘It has shown me I can do anything I set my mind to’
“I would go into the bathroom stall during halftime and re-apply the tape that held my wig on. I saw nothing beautiful about my bald head. When they called me ‘baldy’ or said, ‘Lindsay is ugly,’ I believed it was true. I took my wig off mid-run. And for the first time, I saw nothing beautiful about it. I finally felt like I was the Lindsay I was always meant to be.”
‘If we do it right, the connecting can be more powerful than the distancing.’: Mom says ‘its a choice to focus on the parts of this we won’t get back when things go back to normal’
“I’ve seen generosity like never before. People buying supplies for those most vulnerable. We have had more family meals together in one day than in the last month. If we do it right, the connecting can be more powerful than the distancing.”
‘LET’S DO THIS! Let’s give Anthony a dog!’ His trauma will not disappear, but a new friend can interrupt his pain and replace it with love.’: Unlikely strangers come together to surprise adoptive boy with ‘furry friend’
“He was abandoned by his adoptive parents at 11, with no explanation. His trauma will not disappear just because he has love, a father, stability, and a family. Memories like that can’t be erased. I realized the missing piece to our family, and for Anthony, was a companion. A ‘furry’ one.”
‘She called me in hysterics. ‘Mom, we have to do something. We can’t let it suffer.’: After witnessing wounded deer, mom and daughter realize ‘how truly fragile and beautiful life is’
“There we were, crumpled on the side of the highway, weeping over a dying deer. She wanted so desperately to help ease the animal’s suffering as it struggled to breathe. ‘Oh, Mom,’ my daughter whispered. We prayed her suffering would not linger for long.”
‘No cuddles today,’ I was told 3 days in a row. I was nothing but a milk machine. It was torture.’: Woman gives birth to twin preemies, ‘I was humbled by our time in the NICU’
“I watched her lips turn blue again. ‘Breathe baby girl. Please.’ We were force-feeding them to keep them alive. They poked Hazel over and over, trying to find a vein, finally landing on one in her head. I was horrified. ‘How in the world are we all going to survive this?’”
‘We’d been invited to be babysitters for our first grandchild. ‘Mom I love you, but please reconsider moving the trip.’: Disappointed grandma cancels trip to visit family due to COVID-19
“‘Mom, you’re missing the point. Neither of you should be traveling. What if I already have it?'”
‘I read somewhere a baby boom is expected. A baby boom? How are y’all having sex with all of these kids around all day?’: Mom shares candid reality of first days of coronavirus pandemic
“My teenagers are having a hard time understanding this is not ‘vacation’ time. I am unprepared and scared to be a home-school mom. I tried to take a shower and my home went into utter chaos complete with instant conspiracy theories on my where-a-bouts. No one wanted their routines thrown out the window.”
‘She didn’t want to talk about it or deal with it. Mix teen hormones in and you have a recipe for disaster.’: Widow celebrates daughter’s strength after husband’s passing, gets wink from heaven
“He wasn’t just her dad. That man was her best friend. He would have moved mountains for her. He did gymnastics with her. He let her put his very short hair in ponytails. He baked cupcakes with her, every Sunday night. And then one summer night, he died holding her hand. She woke up, crawled across the floor, pulled herself up to stand on shaky legs, and decided enough was enough.”
‘My job is affected. I’m worried for my husband who is a paramedic. I have a right to be angry, confused, scared, hopeful.’: During coronavirus pandemic, woman urges ‘be compassionate, stand together’
“Medical personnel will be asked to put their career before their or their families health, spouses of first responders wait for the call of quarantine, children who rely on schools will suffer, our elderly in nursing homes are at risk. Right now, at this moment, it’s happening. We all need to do our part.”
‘I found a handwritten note in our mailbox that said, ‘Please tell me anything you need, and I will pick it up for you.’ I heaved a sigh of relief.’: Woman says ‘the angels among us reassured me the world is still a good place to be’
“I was trying to stock up on supplies because my husband and I fit many of the categories for this virus to be life-threatening: over 65–check, diabetes—check, lung issues—check, immune compromised—check. Our doctor told us, ‘You need to prepare to be home for 2 months.’ In the midst of all the anxieties and panic shopping, I learned a great deal about kindness.”
‘If you look at the back of my car right now it looks like I’m overly prepared, but this stuff isn’t for me.’: Woman starts supply drive for elderly during coronavirus outbreak, ‘We can’t all do everything, but each of us can do something’
“When I saw images of our older folks struggling at grocery stores and meeting empty shelves, my heart absolutely broke. Some don’t have the technology to do their shopping online. Some can’t maneuver their walkers or motorized scooters through the crowds. Many don’t have the money to stock up on items. These are the people we are supposed to be protecting, and they’re falling through the cracks. I knew I had to do something.”
‘I watched him bury his head in his hands and sob. ‘I’m not going anywhere, I need you. The kids need us.’ He grabbed my face. ‘We are going to make it.’: After losing daughter to flu woman says ‘I only thought I loved him before’
“I have heard that tragic events like this can break up a marriage. I was terrified that not only was I going to have to continue living this life without my daughter, but I was going to lose my best friend and the only person who could comfort me. He grabbed my face and whispered in my ear, ‘I’m not going anywhere.’ I only thought I loved him before.”
Dear Society: We Need To Stop Passing So Much Judgement Onto Mothers
“When a mother says she needs help, that’s exactly what she meant. She is not saying she is incapable.”
‘To the woman who cannot afford to stock up on essentials for her baby right now, you are still a good mother.’: Woman pens note to mothers struggling through coronavirus pandemic
“To the woman who has to wait until pay day to pick up six bottles of hand sanitizer. To the woman who is full of fear for her children’s school being cancelled because there is no Plan B for childcare. To the woman who is crippled with anxiety because she doesn’t have the mental capacity to homeschool right now, you are still a good mother. And a virus cannot (and will not) change that.”
‘I’m not sick. Why should I stay at home?’ As a mom of 4 in her second trimester, I plead with you, wash your hands. My husband doesn’t want to raise our family alone.’: Mom of 4 diagnosed with lupus begs people to stay home
“As someone who has battled lupus for the past 16 years and remains on numerous immune-suppressing medications, I urge you to stay home. We know what it feels like to get sick because of someone else’s lack of concern or ignorance. My husband doesn’t want to raise our family alone.”
‘We’re reminding children 57 times a day to wash their hands. We’re gathering lesson plans for a month. We’re on the front lines.’: Teacher reminds us ‘give the teachers in your life a little extra love’ during coronavirus outbreak
“In my 20-something years of teaching, this has been the hardest time of my career. We’re cleaning every surface of our classroom, desks, pencils, markers, light switches, and sinks 5 times a day. We’re learning new technology at a moment’s notice as our schools shut down and then turning around and teaching it to our students and their parents. We’re on the front lines.”
‘The text came at 12 p.m. ‘All schools will close at 2:30 p.m. for a minimum of 2 weeks.’ Autism doesn’t allow for change.’: Mom of autistic child says ‘covid-19 could change everything’
“Routine is something we thrive on in our house. It stays the same every day, down to what my little boy eats, the shape his sandwiches are cut into, and the song we sing at bedtime. Routine is the one thing he could control. With that one text message, everything changed for him.”