I said goodbye to two decades’ worth of resources and relationships. It seemed perfectly appropriate for my emotions to go haywire. By Nicole Melanson
Author: Motherwell
“Ryan,” I say. “If you ever want to play with the girl dolls, we have them. In this house, you can play with whatever you want.” By Ann Wainwright
How exactly could I break this news to a kid who already went to bed every night scared of death to the point of tears? By Tanya Mozias Slavin
The hardest thing about divorce, I’ve found, is not the being alone. It’s the being alone when most of the people you know and love have a first port of call that isn’t you. By Lauren Apfel
We don’t want our boys to be “cured.” There is no cure; autism is a chronic state, like arthritis, or love. By Elizabeth Michaelson Monaghan
“No skinny pants” was a rule we could not and did not obey. Instead, we pulled our children out of the school. By Jennie Burke
Take a minute to shine the spotlight on your child and praise them for reporting the behavior. By Lori Orlinsky
I’d raise my family differently, not because of the mistakes I made—though I certainly made my share—but because time means so much more to me now. By Melissa T. Shultz
They arrived. One after the other. In snowstorms. On holidays. From foreign countries. In succession—as inevitable it seemed as midterms and finals. By David Joseph
I’d been craving more one-on-one time with my kids for so long and now, thanks to those pesky parasites, I had it. By Kate Lemery
My eyes focus on my abdomen, the bulge pregnancy has left behind. My inner critic opens her mouth…but then I take in the whole picture. By Chrissie Dunham
Hearing “nonviable” is heartbreaking. Having to ignore that in front of 32 smiling second graders is even harder. By Caitlin Cherry
We would take a million pictures of our child but none of us. Forget to schedule date nights because we never needed them before. By Elizabeth Newdom
“Why is she like that?” my son asks. I hesitate. There’s no denying my mother’s passive aggressive disdain towards me. By Elizabeth Maria Naranjo
Is there any better teacher of life for a kid on the spectrum than a brother or sister? By Marya Markovich
Cell phones do not work here, and on a good day it takes only ten minutes to open email. By Mindy Roll
How do I deal with my child’s social issues when I still haven’t worked through my own? By Amy Kline
“You’re a different person,” my husband said. This was years ago now. Thank god he was right. By Samantha Shanley
They are part of my life’s topography. Tiny specks on my map of choices, loves and losses, hurts and heartbreak. By Jordan Namerow
“I built it myself. What do you think?” My father didn’t look up, he just took a drink from his bottle and kept staring at the television. By John Graham
There’s Cooper, she’s at least a full head shorter than every other child on stage. This causes both attention and confusion. By Carina McLaughlin
Losing my mother, especially at a young age, was like losing my compass. By Gina Luongo
I wonder now why it came as such a shock to me that friends would get married, that wild nights out would become sleepless ones at home with a baby. By Claire Lynch
My mom took off her scarf and revealed her bald head. We all braced ourselves, but the woman at the shop didn’t flinch. By Kandace Chapple
“No offense Mom,” my oldest said to me a few years ago. “But you could have been so much more.” By Laura Pochintesta