“The tears fall. She gives me the wave off with her hand saying, ‘Nevermind.’ I’ve faced frustration, but never like this.”
‘I can’t hear.’ I tell her to write. She gives me a dismissive hand wave.’: Deaf woman reminds us to be patient during the pandemic
‘I told him two men shot you, for no reason. ‘Do you wear sneakers. In heaven?’ It’s too big. He can’t swallow it.’: Mom of autistic son wonders how to take action for Ahmaud Arbery
“I don’t know what it’s like to watch behind me when I run, or worry someone may shoot me. I am a middle-aged white woman living in suburbia. I don’t know what it’s like to be you, but I do have a vulnerable child—not for the color of his skin, but for the invisible wiring inside his brain.”
‘He may not make it through the next hour.’ I didn’t want to answer the phone. I just had to get to the NICU.’’ Mom mourns the loss of adopted 8-day-old micro-preemie, ‘His tiny footprints are forever stamped on my heart’
“The mama we had matched with for adoption, though not due for 16 weeks, was in crisis. I cried uncontrollably. All I saw was the most beautiful, amazing baby boy, fighting to live.”
‘Omgoodness, Becky did you just Google my problem?’ I’d been trying to figure something out. Almost right away, she sent all the info.’: Mom says ‘find a friend that will Google your problem for you’
“As a full-time-working-stay-at-home-home-schooling-mom-wife-teacher-writer, we can get so incredibly busy and burdened. Sometimes we need people to listen to us vent or shed some light for us.”
‘Is everything alright, bud?’ He had an announcement: ‘Your dad came back to you in the form of your son.’: Boy says late grandpa is now new little brother, ‘I have never felt more peaceful’
“My father had passed away. ‘What do you mean?’ I was a little confused. ‘When he was in your tummy, grandpa played trains with me in my room. He said he was going to be my baby brother now so we could play trains together all of the time soon.’ I stood there, truly taken aback.”
‘We used an anonymous donor to form our family despite having additional frozen embryos we could have continued trying.’: Mom of 3 hopes ‘my boys are proud one day’
“There have been decisions Steph and I have made as parents that we know our children may have opinions on. If one day my children question them, I hope my heart is proud to have raised children who can think for themselves.”
‘Forgotten lunch boxes and sweatshirts remain. Untold stories, empty playgrounds. The desks are still full, but empty of the one thing that made them come alive each day.’: Mom says return to school will be ‘a day of celebration’
“The artwork on the walls is full of shamrocks and gold, rainbows, and leprechauns. Spring was right within their grasp. They said, ‘I’ll see you in a little while.’ A little while has gone on longer than anyone imagined it would, but in that classroom, time stands still.”
‘Can you help with the chores?’ You’d have thought I just ruined my stepson’s life. He balked and resisted, often leaving behind his dirty dishes.’: Stepmom says ‘parenting is a process of growing’
“Despite being reminded, he usually forgot in his mad dash to grab his keys and rush out the door. And that stepmom? Well, she got really annoyed by it. I worried he’d never learn the value of taking care of things, the value of helping others out, or being aware of his surroundings.”
‘He’d point out my stretch marks and the physical things he wanted to change about me. ‘I’m sorry I said that, but you bring it out of me.’: Abuse survivor urges ‘it’s not your fault’
“He’d tell me what girls he thought was hot, who he’d sleep with. He had no problem gawking at other girls in front of me. He said he felt unimportant and that I gave him no attention, even though my eyes were always on him and he had his attention elsewhere. I was convinced I was unloveable.”
‘The same people who were created from sex are the same reason why you’ll never have it again.’: Mom hilariously points out the ironies of motherhood
“You yell at your children to just ‘listen, for goodness sakes,’ but can tune those monkeys out like it’s nobody’s business. You gain 50 pounds and yet you’ve never sat down to have a proper meal ever! You spend all day waiting for those stinkers to go bed, but when they fall asleep, you stare at their little faces, your heart so full of love.”