“Friends have asked why I take the time to clean it when it will get dirty and no one will notice a difference. ‘You’re the man, no one cares how pretty your ring is’. Here’s the thing. IT. DOES. MATTER. Why?”
‘I was cleaning my wedding ring. I’m a ‘guys’ guy. My hands stay banged up and dirty. I work on cars, the yard, they get dirty. My ring bares the brunt.’
‘The doctor intensively listened to her heartbeat – troubled by what he heard. We realized the severity of the situation. Immediately dropping to my knees in despair, we moved into the hospital.’
“I immediately started CPR and called 911 while my husband tried to keep the boys out of the room. Things escalated quickly. Before I knew it, our road was blocked by police, firefighters, and an ambulance. All these people lent us their hands in attempt to save our daughter.”
‘In these 45 days, I have held my 2-year old while she was throwing up, during blood draws and X-rays. I have watched her learn to trust. I know what blanket she needs to fall asleep.’
“I have met my child’s birth mom and held her. I have cried with her and prayed for her. My heart is wide open. It has grown to love not only this child, but also her biological mother. I’m rooting for her and wanting desperately to help her break this cycle of life she is trapped in.”
Dear New Parents: Your Emotions Will Vary One Moment To The Next, And That’s OK
“Motherhood is a very strange glass cage of emotion and a complete mix of going back and forth between acting like Mary Poppins and The Hulk.”
‘Strong people do foster care. Bible thumpers do foster care. Not us. People like us do not do foster care.’: Woman reflects on harrowing journey through infertility, foster care
“We tried for five long years to have children of our own. Five years is sixty months. That’s six hundred ovulation tests and one hundred and twenty pregnancy tests. Always negative.”
‘When he was born I heard, ‘Oh my God. He has RED HAIR!’ I paused. ‘No, just wash him a few times.’ The nurse washed him 3 times. ‘No mama, you’ve got a little ginger.’: African American mom shocked by newborn son’s red hair
“Trust me, I was shocked too. I can’t count how many times I had to explain he wasn’t adopted, wasn’t my stepson, and wasn’t albino. That I was his mom – not the aunt, Godmother, or the nanny.”
Don’t Shame Parents If You Spot A Toddler Without A Winter Coat—New Car Seat Guidelines May Be The Reason
“Please do not assume that parent is some kind of monster. I can’t count how many moms have told me their personal stories of being judged or harassed out in public.”
‘I begged you to stay. I gave you a big hug, not knowing it’d be the last. You told me you’d see me soon. I believed you.’: Little sister misses ‘other half’ during holidays after losing her to suicide
“As it hit midnight, I felt this overwhelming urge to call you. I knew something wasn’t right. I fell to the floor in shock. ‘Your sister has taken her life.’ I could not believe you were gone.”
I Cooked And Cleaned By Myself On My Wedding Anniversary—Here’s Why That’s Okay
“Don’t get so busy being caught up in what your husband isn’t doing that you forget what he does do to show you he loves you.”
A Wife’s Guide To Marital Teamwork
“As partners in this game of life, we have to work together.”
‘When I’m scared and hurting, and I’m reduced to a sobbing mess, there’s one person I want in the whole wide world. I love my husband. But it’s my mom.’
“I am 32 years old. But when things hit the fan, like when I was crying on the bathroom floor, 8 months pregnant with a stomach virus, have you ever surprised yourself by uttering the words ‘I want my mommy’ above the age of 18?”
‘He’s here, he’s breathing, and he has a TON of hair!’ The joy only lasted for a moment. Our son was ready to shake things up at the hospital.’: Mother learns of son’s rare Cornelia de Lange syndrome diagnosis
“There was silence. She smiled, turned off the screen, and said she would be right back. I looked at my fiancé with tears in my eyes. ‘I knew it.’ They told us our baby would have some sort of syndrome, and we had ‘no choice’ but to continue with the pregnancy. I remember feeling angry at that, ‘no choice but to continue.’ As if they had already deemed his life to be unfit to continue.”
We Adopted 8 Children From Foster Care In 5 Years
“I could never have imagined our lives like this when I was little.”
‘When Colton was 6 days old, I walked up to him when he was napping and found his top lip was blue and that he wasn’t responding.’
“Doctors were already prepping him for the incubator before I even could comprehend what was being said. We had to watch our son be hooked to a machine to get the oxygen his little body needed.”
‘When I was 18 years old, I had an abortion. The reasons were deplorable. I was in my first year of college, with a boyfriend I no longer loved. When I was 23, I had another abortion.’
“Before I could blink, I had an adoring husband, a 2-year-old and I was fresh off the ache of a miscarriage. When a recent layoff made insurance scarce and the price of genetic testing unreasonable, I went without it when I became pregnant once again.”
The First Step Is Admitting You Have A Christmas Movie Problem
“Where else besides ‘Dancing with the Stars’ can you find all of your favorite sitcom actors from the ’90s? Danica McKellar? Yes, please! Lacey Chabert? I’ll take two! Is that Dean Cain? Grab your Santa suit and get in that phone booth, Superman. You can save my Christmas anytime!”
I Gave My Son A Toy Spider, And Accidentally Induced Sheer Terror
“Maybe a little electronic spider that’s power source feeds off of screams of terror is not the best gift for your small child.”
‘You guys did great. You did great 3 times,’ our doctor said as she laid out our sonogram with three little sacs. My mind was racing. Shock and fear set in.’
“Mike couldn’t speak. In fact, the doctor looked at him after we covered all the basics and said, ‘Dad, are you OK? You haven’t said anything.’”
Today My Daughter Ate A Magnet, And I Ended Up In The ER
“When I read horrific stories about children choking to death on bouncy balls, we became a bouncy-ball free home. When I heard of kids getting Shopkins stuck in their airways, we became a Shopkin-free home. 15 minutes into rest time, the twins came down the stairs yelling.”
‘He asks: ‘How was your day today, what did you do?’ You think: Well, I was woken at 7 a.m. while I was in blissful deep sleep by a loud bloodcurdling scream because the baby poo exploded.’
“To say there was crap everywhere was an understatement. The toddler was also angry because he could hear commotion and he wasn’t involved, so he started screaming too. Finally, ready to leave, woohoo! Victory! Except, I’m still in pajamas and I’m pretty sure I have poo on my top…”
‘Mom, we have to take them home.’ It was so hard to look at these girls and not cry. It was like looking into the eyes of my sister, eyes I had not seen in 8 years, eyes I would never see again.’
“The woman who had the girls was not at all family, but a friend from church. They had been removed from her care and were in a foster home. After we got off the phone, I panicked – what was I going to do?”
‘Michael got news something had gone wrong. I was being put under anesthesia immediately. He wasn’t thinking he would have to worry about me too.’
“I was in disbelief. I thought he would be taken away from me like the girls were. I didn’t want to get attached. Even with a giant belly at 38 weeks, seeing him move wasn’t enough for me to believe. I wanted to protect myself and prepare for the worst.”
‘He waited until we were driving home. Cancer. Stage 4. After, I call my dad and tell him ‘me too.’ My stoic dad cries, not for himself, but for me.’: Woman copes with the effects of cancer
“Looking back, there was ‘The Before,’ and then there was ‘The After.’ I am a stranger to that woman now. Loss happened to other people. Cancer happened to them. Until one day they are gone, and all that is left is the heartbreaking absence of their presence.”
I Was Fat Shamed By A Complete Stranger On A Plane
“He only saw my extra weight and my physical ‘flaws.’ He didn’t see me as a person, or strong woman whose body has been through a lot of medical history in the last year or so.”
Today, For The First Time, My Son Refused To Hold My Hand
“I knew the day was coming. I forced a smile when it happened, but the honest truth is, my heart wanted to burst out into big, bubbling tears.”