“This wasn’t the first time I was met with bitter and awful remarks at the size of my family. I took a deep breath and put my phone away for a while. I’ve grown a thick skin at the words people use to describe us. But this one stung. She didn’t know we lived in two tiny trailers in our backyard while our home was being rebuilt after the fire.”
‘You should’ve used birth control’ was not something I was ever prepared for as a mom. This complete stranger looked at us in disgust.’: Mom of 10 turns the other cheek on bitter Instagram commenters
‘Something isn’t right.’ I looked into my husband’s eyes. As I slowly shifted our son’s head, I saw an enlarged cheek.’: Mom ‘never knew’ about newborn’s lymphatic malformation until birth, ‘We were numb’
“Immediately our midwife called in the doctor. Within 3 minutes of meeting our precious Oliver, he was taken off my chest and over to the incubator. I didn’t know how to feel. My midwife was still trying to get me to stop bleeding as I struggled to see my baby. There was no time to process, research or pray. Here he was, our firstborn. We had no idea how to be parents, but then to throw in a special needs child, we were numb.”
‘Give me a high five!’ She didn’t want to. He leaned in close to my daughter. Uncomfortable, she refused to acknowledge him.’: Mom stresses importance of children’s comfort, ‘I want her to know no means NO’
“A man sat next to my daughter on the bus. It wasn’t busy, yet he chose the seat next to her. She stood up, moved over to me. ‘Aw, you don’t need to be scared. Cat got your tongue?’ He leaned in close. I felt her press into me. ‘She doesn’t want to talk,’ I explained firmly. ‘You should teach her some manners!’ he admonished me. He spluttered something along the lines of ‘back in my day.’ Everything about her body language screamed STOP, but he wasn’t listening.”
‘I’m beautiful, Mama!,’ she whispered, beaming. I found myself in tears as I watched my baby girl twirl.’: Mom learns lesson from her little girl’s winter coat, ‘She didn’t need affirmation’
“We fluffed up the coat and zipped it up snugly on her petite frame. She twirled, danced and giggled inside the purple puffs. Then she stopped to look up at me, so sweet, so pure. It struck me that she couldn’t actually see herself. She wasn’t looking in a mirror. I felt the tears pooling behind my eyes.”
‘I’m leaving for the Army! I can’t be pregnant!’ I just turned 18. I had no clue who my baby’s father was.’: Teen mom has ‘beautiful’ open adoption, ‘They burst into tears when they saw her. I knew I’d made the right choice’
“It was 3 days after my 18th birthday, I stood in my bathroom screaming in horror. I was pregnant. Of all the stunts I’d pulled in my teenage years, this was by far the worst. What was even worse… I didn’t know if the baby was my boyfriend’s, or if I’d gotten pregnant by a guy I had a fling with in school. I hadn’t told my boyfriend there was a chance the baby wasn’t his. I was so ashamed I could hardly look him in the eyes.”
‘Oh thank God, one surgery and he’ll be back to normal.’ My dad was diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumor. He was going to survive, no doubt in my mind.’: Daughter reflects on holidays without your dad
”A feeling came over me that my dad would not pass away if I was there. I was his little girl and he was my hero. 15 minutes later, he was gone. The first Christmas without my dad, I remember thinking, ‘Just smile.’ I also carried a water bottle with me everywhere, because my dad had once told me as a child, ‘if you drink water, you will calm down and not cry.”
‘His sperm is not swimming where it should.’ I dreaded telling my husband. Nervous tears fell from my eyes.’: Couple raise awareness about infertility after struggling to conceive naturally
“I instantly felt guilt seep in as I recalled telling my husband he had ‘nothing to worry about.’ After all, I was the one with the fertility issues. Others put their foot in our mouths with unwanted advice: ‘Just relax.’ ‘There’s no rush.’ I sat on the toilet lid, uncovered my test. I felt a flood of confusion wash over me. ‘Call the clinic!’ I broke down to my husband. I was at my wits end.”
‘Mom! That’s not a book!’ She looked confused. I stared for half a second before dying laughing.’: Woman shares fond Christmas memory of late mother, ‘this season has enough heartache’
“One year, I made a wish list of a few things I wanted, one of which I never received for Christmas. I didn’t ask about it though, because that’s ungrateful. But my mom brought it up. After all the hullabaloo was over, she came over and hugged me.”
‘I find you arrogant, rude, disrespectful and jealous.’ A workplace conflict left me hurt. She didn’t believe a single word.’: Woman learns of autism diagnosis at 23, ‘I finally learned the truth. I am not broken’
“Teachers would say, ‘Lauren is very polite, gifted, such a cute little girl.’ My peers started to reject me. My school life was marred by rumors and taunts. I began to tell myself, ‘There is something wrong with you.’ I could never remember to bathe. I once went half a year without washing my hair. At age 23, I finally learned the truth. I am autistic. I am not broken.”
‘I am OK being single.’ I don’t ‘husband hunt.’ I didn’t grow up learning kids are a blessing.:’ Woman celebrates being single after growing up in divorced family, ‘a relationship is not where happiness begins or ends’
“I wasn’t going to have kids with some deadbeat guy just to check ‘things women are supposed to do’ off the list. I know some of you silently judge me. I’ve become the spinster I worried about becoming, but this year I started to love her; truly, madly and deeply. I think you envy the freedom single people have.”