“Not every night. Hell, not even most nights. But when I can, I do. Too often we get wrapped up in our separate lives outside of our marriage.”
‘I work full time and over time, I’m a full-time student getting a Master’s Degree. But still, I cook dinner.’: Woman says ‘it’s the little things you can do to help your spouse’
‘It’s not that bad, be grateful.’ Our pregnancies can’t be rescheduled. These are memories we will never get back.’: Expecting mom says ‘none of us asked for this, but we will all come out of this stronger’
“This is not the time to ‘suck it up.’ This is the time to own every feeling of weakness and uncertainty we have, and move forward in spite of it… together.”
‘A crisis can bring you to your knees, or it can heal you. I choose to let it heal me, and I hope you do, too.’: Mom says ‘I don’t ever want to take advantage how lucky I am’
“I’ve mumbled the same phrases over and over again: ‘I hope they go to bed soon,’ ‘The last time I did math we were still carrying the one,’ ‘Sure, let’s do another TikTok video.’ Sometimes too much togetherness can feel, well, like too much togetherness. But on this day – in the midst of all the imperfection – it was perfect.”
‘Age doesn’t matter, you consented.’ It wasn’t a stranger or a creepy cousin. It wasn’t forceful, or a textbook case of victim and prey.’: Child abuse survivor cautions others during quarantine, ‘Home isn’t always safe’
“I was your typical ‘daddy issues’ case with a strong desire for male attention. Predators know what to look for and I must have had a flashing billboard promoting my willingness to please. I was told, ‘This can’t be true. People would notice!’ I’ve allowed fear to keep me silent.”
‘How much more can we handle?’ Being a military spouse was the toughest part of my life…or so I thought.’: Military spouse learns to ’embrace the suck’ after daughter diagnosed with rare cancer
“It’s funny how major life moments seem to always occur right before or during a long deployment. I was alone when we received my son’s diagnosis, and I was alone to figure out what to do next.”
‘The sonographer said, ‘There’s a foot in your vagina.’ I didn’t hear my baby cry. ’Is she alive?’: Woman gives birth to micro-preemie, ‘My life plans didn’t include a NICU stay during a pandemic’
“I was in a daze. ‘Your baby needs to come out right now.’ I lay on the operating table alone while they sewed my now empty womb back together. 3 hours later, they told us, ‘She might not survive it.’ Our hearts broke. None of it seemed right.”
‘His 2-year-old sister hit him. ‘I don’t know how you do it, you’re so strong.’ If it was a husband, I’d be told to pack up and leave.’: Mom of autistic child says ‘most days are hard, not just quarantine days’
“If it was a husband or boyfriend doing the things my son does – I’d be told to pack my little children up in the middle of the night and leave the abusive relationship. My child is amazing. I will tell anyone who will listen. But I need to keep it real.”
‘The cashier said, ‘Do you think it’s safe to get high with your kids?’ It took me by surprise. Some people don’t smoke just to get high.’: Pro-marijuana mom says ‘these are the most stress-free days we’ve had’
“I remember the first time I wore this sweater out in public. I was at the mall, surrounded by tank tops that said ‘I’m a wine mom’ and ‘nothing gets done until my wine glass is empty.’ But my sweater was definitely one of the most looked at things, probably because I had my two young kids with me.”
‘A woman stole my picture and used it on Facebook, saying it was her own son who died. This sweet child who passed in my arms, was stolen.’: Grieving woman victim to social media theft urges ‘child loss is real’
“She gave him a different name and shared details of her fake son’s short life. He existed. He is more than just a picture. I feel numb.”
It’s okay to say, ‘WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?’ It’s okay to actually freak out.’: Woman says ‘it’s okay to not be okay’ during quarantine
“It’s okay if you lose your patience in between a meeting and cooking a meal and setting up circle time and being asked 1,000 questions about snacks and TV shows and playing tag outside and trying to think of where you last saw their sneakers.”