“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.”
‘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’
‘He swept up my child, shaking her up and down. ‘LET GO!’ When it comes to my daughter, I have no tolerance.’: Dad stresses consent after strange encounter, ‘Women and kids are not all access’
“I turned the corner with my shopping cart. Suddenly a man appears in my peripheral. ‘I’m just holding her, relax.’ This STRANGER starts walking down the aisle with my baby. It all happened in a fraction of a second.”
‘Why would I want my babies to use the diaper as a toilet?’ Did I mention I hate cleaning up poopy diapers?’: The method we used to ditch diapers (and avoid potty training) with all 5 of our babies
“A friend posted that they didn’t use diapers – they simply held their baby over the toilet or ground, from birth, and avoided poopy diapers. I thought, ‘I’m in! Where do I sign up?’ When I discovered I was pregnant, I bought a book that explained this phenomenon that could save me from All. The. Mess. It just felt right. On the day of his birth, my son started wriggling and bearing down. I was handed a small potty and held him over it. He did that first nasty poop in the potty, and I can assure you I never looked back.”
‘Could you be pregnant?’ I mean yeah, I guess I could be, but I’m pretty sure I’m not. I decided to put ‘Yes’ for the answer.’: Woman gets surprise pregnancy news at dentist
“‘I need you to go take this test to make sure. If you are pregnant, we can’t do the x-rays.’ I thought this was crazy, went into the bathroom, and pee’d on the stick. She grabbed it, looked at me, and called for another lady to come look. The other lady looked at me. ‘Yeah, we aren’t doing the appointment.’ I walked out, called my boyfriend and told him they wouldn’t finish my appointment. He was confused.”
‘I read the books, watched the shows and talked to the seasoned moms. I realized a common thread. Kids are who they are, they all respond and act differently.’: Mom of 7 discusses ever-changing role of motherhood, what she’s learned over the years
“I want to raise good people, not perfect ones. I’m certainly not perfect so why should I expect my children to be? I use my own mistakes as an example for them. I apologize when I speak harshly and tell them even moms mess up. I want them to know if you are working on yourself and always trying to learn from the mistakes you make, that’s all that truly matters.”
‘You deserve to be with someone who wants to make you a dad.’ My husband wanted children more than any man I’d ever known. I had to decide.’: Woman’s struggle through marriage and motherhood
“What if I don’t want to be a mom? What happens next? Is it time to let my husband go? My entire adult life I’ve gone back and forth about whether I want children.”
‘The surgeon ran a plumbing snake through my insides. We were left haggard, anxious. It was our first wedding anniversary.’: Woman learns of infertility after infection, chooses adoption instead of IVF, ‘Like magic, it all became clear’
“At 24, I’d been married to Peter less than a year. ‘Are you alright?’ I must’ve looked flush. My knees gave out. As I stepped toward the waiting room, time slowed to a crawl. Heaving sobs came next. ‘Oh honey,’ she whispered. ‘I am so sorry.’”
‘I see you trying to hold me together. I see you sitting there at appointments looking at your feet. I see your fear. I see you. I see you blaming yourself for my pain. I see your pain.’: Wife documents IVF journey alongside husband
“I see you making sacrifices for me and for our future family. I see you being so open to ‘alternative methods’ so we can get our happily ever after. I see you being open to anything and letting me decide what we should do with my body. I see you willing to make changes to our path in life. I see you.”
‘If you’d asked me back then if I was a bully, I would’ve given you an emphatic, ‘No Way! As if?’: Woman realizes she was a ‘background bully’ who ‘stirred the pot’
“I never, ever said explicitly mean things to anyone’s face. I only said it because I felt sorry for you! You know the kind – those Gretchen Weiner-type girls who feigned shock when one of their friends said something hurtful, but then giggled about it anyway.”
‘I missed my daughter’s honor roll assembly so I could go for a walk and burn off anxiety. It’s not selfish, it’s called self-love.’: Woman responds to mom shamers, ‘taking care of ourselves IS taking care of our kids’
“I was struggling deep with anxiety and had a long work day ahead of me. I needed a break. The next day, several moms at school asked me why I wasn’t there with my husband and my mom who was in town visiting. Women were judging me. So much so that they felt the need to privately message me to insult me.”