“Labor pains, breastfeeding, postpartum hormones. She looks at herself in the mirror, wondering if her body will ever look the same again. I thought I knew what motherhood entailed. Like most new dads, I only experienced it as an outsider. I saw my mother, sister, and friends do it. I got the gist of it. Or at least I thought I did. But what I didn’t know was how little I really knew.”
‘She gets no sleep at all. She has no time for herself. She intentionally loses herself in him so he knows he is loved.’: Husband pens sweet mom appreciation letter to ‘fierce’ wife
‘Only 6 months after our divorce was final, my ex-husband ended his lifelong battle with mental illness.’: Woman’s journey to discover her ‘self-worth’ after ex’s suicide
“I kissed, hugged and squeezed him, laughing and crying, in shock. The crazy thing about it is that even though our marriage was always hard – he was abusive and constantly tormented by his own mind – I loved him. I still do.”
‘My card got declined in the checkout line. I was a new mom with 2 kids under 3. I felt like I could just melt into the floor.’: Mom pays it forward after stranger’s act of kindness
“My two-year-old was asking for bubble gum and chocolate bars. Without missing a beat, the man behind me in line handed the cashier his card. ‘I’ve got it.’ He said. My friend at the cash register was near tears by the end of her shift. I won’t ever forget that day and I doubt she has either.”
‘We won’t have a little voice waking us up Christmas morning, no opening presents. We put up lights, even though they can’t express their excitement.’: Special needs mom shares reality of Christmas season, ‘Our babies are the gift’
“Our Christmas is different than yours. We get no excited screams when they see what Santa brought. It’s struggling with gift ideas. What do you get a non-mobile, non-verbal child? It’s walking past all the cool toys at the front of every store, wishing our child could play with them. Our Christmas is different, but it’s still so magical.”
‘Y’all, I was too embarrassed to go to the car wash. ‘Everyone pick up their stuff.’ I just wasn’t willing to listen to my husband.’: Mom shares hilarious car wash fail
“Basically, my car was too dirty to go to a car wash. I chose the vacuums as far away from other people as humanly possible, sure no one would notice the avalanche of crap about to fall out of my passenger side door. I was so very wrong. Up pulled a man in a light blue, flawless car.”
‘We can’t do anything else.’ I was 18 with a deceased baby. They pulled a drain tube out and her little belly filled with blood.’: Teen loses daughter to congenital heart disease, donates 455 oz. of breast milk to save sick NICU babies
“She had open heart surgery at just 1 day old. I was terrified. My little girl was on full life support. ‘Why would God give me a sick baby?’ She was bleeding out. I decided to turn something so painful into something beautiful. Even though I couldn’t save my baby, I decided I could save others.”
My Family Had Close To Nothing Under Our Christmas Tree, Until Kindness Changed Our Lives Forever
“It killed me to watch my mother trying to smile. She felt like she’d failed us. Soon there was a knock. We all scampered to the door of our little duplex. It was hard to breathe as I choked back tears.”
‘Wait. Is this normal?’ He turned his neck. My first thought, as a mama of 10, was lymph node. Then, I touched it. I knew.’: Mom admires 11-year-old son’s tenacity during cancer battle, ‘Told you I’d live’
“My husband and I decided to stop fooling around. I loaded up 10 kids, rented a house in another state, and we hit the road. I waited for the final lab reports. I was making sandwiches. I’ll never forget which step I was on, because that’s how they stayed. Pregnant with our 11th baby, the surgeon’s number popped up on my phone. He asked me to walk away from the children. My heart screamed, ‘NOT MY BABY.’”
‘I didn’t need his permission. I closed my eyes, clicked a button, and finally put an end to my pretending.’: It’s been one year since I stopped faking it on social media
“I posted our most recent family photos, and the comments poured in about how ‘perfect’ my family was. I knew things needed to change. I didn’t want people to just like my photos, I wanted them to like me, all of me—even the painful, grieving parts. I am a child who was abused by her father at 3 years old. A teenager who was the victim of statutory rape. I found my husband unresponsive on the floor with a failing heart.”
‘Yes, Meg. The baby is healthy, stop worrying.’ Coward. She knew. I saw it and felt sick. I didn’t want to hold her.’: Mom unknowingly births baby with Down syndrome, ‘I want to shout her worth to the world!’
“I grabbed a nurse’s arm as she walked by. ‘What’s wrong, is she okay?’ Stumbling over her words, she responded with, ‘Congratulations, she’s beautiful!’ Coward. She handed her to me before quickly walking out of the room, like she was some kind of damaged goods. Her tongue could barely fit in her mouth. I didn’t want to hold her, feed her, or even look at her. I was furious. All I could hear was that damn whispering.”
Today I Took A Santa Photo For A Grieving Dad, And I Learned The True Meaning Of Christmas
“He grabbed my hand and pulled me in and hugged me, then turned around and left. As he walked out, we all had tears in our eyes.”
‘Your wife had a serious head trauma. She may not make it.’ I was covered with tubes and he lost it.’: Woman survives horrific car accident, gets married the same date of accident a year later to ‘redeem the day’
“3 weeks after getting engaged, I was T-boned by a Mac truck. ‘If this continues, we’ll lose her.’ He lost it. As he entered the room, he noticed my engagement ring had been removed. I was covered with tubes. He expected to recognize me. He didn’t. He held my hand and told me I was beautiful. ‘I want to marry you today more than I did the day I proposed,’ he told me.”
‘I was constantly told how ugly I was, that I was useless if I wouldn’t be able to conceive children. As I started to hate him, I started to hate myself more.’: Woman escapes abusive relationship and becomes a global inspiration.
“I believed he truly wanted to become a changed man. Boy was I wrong. Maybe I WAS just a useless, unwanted female, maybe this was as good as my life was going to get. I, of course, believed him. ‘Your time to shine and blossom WILL come, have patience.”
‘You’re too young to be so serious.’ ‘It won’t last.’ I ignored it all. I knew deep down it wasn’t just puppy love.’: Teen mom marries young, births 2 kids despite criticism, ‘When you meet the love of your life, you’ll know’
“I met and started dating my husband at 16. I was infatuated with this boy I met at the mall, with Justin Bieber hair. ‘You’re 16. It won’t last forever.’ ‘Be prepared to do this on your own. Babies are hard on couples, especially so young.’ ‘We’re very happy for you, but do you think this is a good idea? To get married? You’re too young.’ Whether you’re 15, or 50, when you meet the love of your life, you will know right away. I’m so glad I didn’t listen.”
‘We couldn’t possibly have known. There was so much more ahead of us.’: Woman reminisces on being a clueless new mother, ‘You’ll all be OK because you already know the secret, how to love this baby’
“I just found this picture behind another photo in a frame and I’ve unearthed a memory. I see young me, about 3 weeks into my mom journey. I couldn’t possibly have known. And I’m glad I didn’t.”
‘My mom loves to decorate at Christmas. It’s a big deal to her. She begged me to go outside to make sure they were ‘just right.’ I didn’t want to.’: Daughter ‘couldn’t care less’ about holidays, but realizes ‘there’s always a reason to share genuine human spirit’
“Christmas? Forget it. It’s not for me. I like the quiet. For a girl like me, holidays are overwhelming. But my mom loves to decorate. She puts up 5 Christmas trees. She goes all out. She begged me to go outside with her to look at them. I didn’t want to. I couldn’t care less. Just then it hit me. She cares. It’s important to her.”
‘He was going to shoot me and my family and take my son, he was going to poison me, set my house on fire.’: Abused woman finds power in fitness, ‘It gave me the ability to sleep through the night again.’
“It was the inability to say no when he wanted to have sex (I was his wife, it was my job to take care of his needs whenever he wanted). He would attack me mentally, insist I was crazy, cause panic attacks so bad I would spend hours unable to do anything but hug the toilet.”
‘Kids can be so mean. Schools are breeding grounds for cliques. Teach them to be inclusive. Teach them not to judge, not to bully.’: Mom urges other parents to ‘teach your children to be nice’
“Our kids’ teachers have the math, reading, science, arts, and writing covered. And, Lord knows they make up for the parenting mistakes we are making at home. But, my goodness, what a ginormous favor we can do those educators, and the world, if we teach our children to be nice.”
I’m A Single 30-Year-Old Black Woman Who Adopted 3 White Kids—Love Has No Color In My Home
“I have my fair share of stares out in public. People ask, ‘Are you babysitting?’ My response is, ‘No, they’re mine.’ Love is love no matter what color you are.”
‘The television host asked me to join him on stage to receive the ultimate crown of being his Queen.’: Woman shares struggles and fears as a ‘Mom-Boss-Manager’ and domestic abuse survivor
“I constantly worry about being the best wife, mother, employee, and creative. But the truth is, I’m not afraid to struggle because I know I’m not alone! I imagine the millions of other women, just like me, who aspire to master the art of being the wife every husband prays for.”
‘What am I doing wrong?’ I was left on my own to flounder. My nipples were bleeding and I was in pain.’: Mom ‘so embarrassed’ about not breastfeeding, finally urges ‘don’t ever feel the need to defend your decision’
“I was so drugged and drained physically my milk didn’t come in for days. My husband said, ‘As long as our baby is healthy and happy everything else doesn’t matter.’ But I didn’t feel the same. I was hopeless. We’d get the pre-made formula so we didn’t have to do any mixing when we left the house and no one would know. It was so stressful.”
‘Do you want to join me?,’ Sean asked. I said no. I agonize over that choice. I didn’t say goodbye.’: Woman loses ‘healthy, active’ husband to sudden heart attack while biking, ‘His death makes no sense’
“4 days after Christmas, it was a beautiful sunny day. ‘I want to ride the trails,’ my husband said. ‘Are you sure you don’t want to go?’ It got dark. By 5:30, I was encouraged to call 911. ‘My husband hasn’t returned,’ I told the dispatcher. Panic filled my soul. ‘Finding him is not our priority,’ I was told. I called my kids, who were forced to locate their dad on foot. I’ll never forget their faces. As I walked toward the trail, my son begged me not to get any closer.”
‘I’ve been saving this money. I heard your husband died. I want you to have it because I still have my dad. Merry Christmas.’ It was a child’s handwriting.’: Widow receives unexpected act of kindness, now wants to pay it forward
“As I sat staring at the tree, silently pleading with God for direction, my doorbell rang. I made my way to the door, opened it and looked out – no one stood there. I looked down. To my surprise on the porch sat a glass jar piggy bank full of money. I read the card and started to cry. In a child’s handwriting, scribbled on a makeshift card, read the most beautiful little words.”
‘It’s just anxiety. It’s all in your head.’ I was on the floor, barely conscious. Something wasn’t right, and Ruby knew it.’: Woman diagnosed with POTS, genetic mutation with help from psychiatric service dog
“My dog Ruby was acting extremely odd towards me. I didn’t think anything of it. Then, paramedics arrived. By then, I was barely conscious, being rushed to the ER. I didn’t expect it: ‘The tests came back. It is life threatening and life expectancy is 38 years old.’ That hit me hard. I gave the doctor a nod and a quiet, ‘Okay.’ I was speechless. I didn’t know how to break the news to my fiancé.”
‘It’s broken my mama heart to be away from her. She moved to live with her dad. My heart was heavy.’: Mom of 6 is away from daughters for holiday, ‘This trip was much more meaningful to me.’
“Celia has severe autism and her meltdowns have become much more aggressive. I was pregnant with baby #5 at the time. And homeschooling. In a construction zone. Every day. I packed my 10-year old daughter Cora up and sent her off unaccompanied on a flight to Atlanta, to spend December with her sister and her dad. It’s hard for me to navigate with all of them on my own.”