Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Breaking free
The alarm went off at 7:30am as it had every other school day. She hit snooze but did not go back to sleep. She stared at the sunlight gleaming off her wedding band as an overwhelming sense of certainty washed over her, different then anything she had ever felt before.Today was the day everything would change. Today was the day she would take her life back.
By Rebecca Fox5 years ago in Families
step parent to be
There are many things you need to consider when it comes to choosing whether you are right to date someone with a child. Being a parent is a full time job and whether that child is yours or not, when you step into that picture you are the step parent to the child even if you are not married, you picture a future with this person but it is not just them you have to picture.
By Jade Aldridge5 years ago in Families
Fun Activities to Do With Your Kids in Quarantine
Hello to all the parents out there that are singing the quarantine blues right now. Some parents are currently trying to juggle working from home and being teachers at the same time and it can be very stressful. Especially for new parents or parents with multiple kids. I definitely understand, so I created this list to try and ease that stress. These are also tips that helped me survive in quarantine. I hope it helps.
By M. McFadden5 years ago in Families
The Memories of Child Abuse
I was five years old when I first remember what it was like to be afraid of someone. My mom just got married to my stepdad and they just got into a huge arguement. I was eating some apple slices watching my favorite cartoon. Then, I looked over and watched, this supposed to be my new father figure, hit my mom in the face. Of course, I started crying because this was something that scared me. I was scared for my mom and I was scared of him. That's when he turned around and said to me, " You better stop crying or I'll give you something to cry about." These are the words that haunt me for the rest of my life and I will explain why.
By mz early2165 years ago in Families
Know Everything about IVF
In today's world IVF is a type of fertility remedy where fertilization takes position outside the body. It’s fitting for people with a broad variety of fertility problems and is one of the most generally used and successful procedures possible for common people. IVF is a common treatment for people who are unable to conceive naturally. Normally, in IVF, the woman has fertility hormones to excite the ovaries to create some eggs. The eggs are then gathered and processed with sperm in a laboratory.
By Arpit Sinha5 years ago in Families
The richest poor lady
After many years of constant struggle. I always felt like giving up when there was no hope. You can not rent a home for $800 or more a month and save money. It isn't possible for a mother with two kids. It should not be an arm an a leg to survive. How does one get ahead?
By Stacy Niemi5 years ago in Families
The Beginning of My Life
nd th afave been thI am starting a new chapter in my life wanting to share what I have been through. I have taught myself everything up until now being on my own since the age of 15. I have endured so much being so young, coming across so many people with the wrong judgment of you, and the worst part is when your family is so judgmental you tend to set things straight when they find out what you have been through. Not believing you because remind you when you have help, it is totally different. When you are actually alone, back up against the wall, learning, it is the hardest thing you can go through mentally, and physically. Being you and people take an advantage of you because they know you are alone. I have been robbed by people i loved, loved, did not know, and knew but never k ew why it happened. I am suffering for just trying to even make something of my own, but when I get where I am trying to go, a simple life then I will always keep it and be happy. Maybe one day, I will have a future to grow on. People seem to change when they see you want better, seeing you struggle and realizing they really wanted nothing to do with you. Being there for others helping them achieve something just to never see you again. Or when they see you they act as if you are not the one in need. Looking, laughing, name-calling just the things that seem to really be unnecessary. Love seeing you alone, depressed, angry, frustrated. People who love you do not do things like this. I have had friends lost because of the relationships with family. Now, because of my childhood, what I been through, and where, and how I had grown up, this is what people thought of me. This living condition was not on me, I was the child this is what made me runaway at the age of 15. I was tired of a title I did not possess. I wanted my education so bad. I knew this was something I was going to need to live the life I wanted. I started failing and trying on my own because of the age barrier this prevented me from a lot of things I wanted a child. I was on the streets, living with a cousin who I thought would help and love me. I was being used then not knowing. I helped this cousin even years later, get a home they have today. It should have been me. Feeling sorry for the child that I didn't have, but who I loved because she was family I helped. I can't even call her for a ride to the store without giving $10-$15 in gas money. I have not been invited to the home still 2 years later, that I also helped her with. I thought having a boyfriend would keep me company, I was looking for love. But I look up just to be alone, and sick walking to and from work. Sleeping outside waiting on a check to come. He was never anywhere to be found. As if he was watching me because when I was able to finally pay for my room, he knocked on my door. The feelings I had, I was just hurting because I knew he did not love me. But he kept me company. He wouldn't even hold me, I figured he needed a place to stay it was obvious after a while. Working wondering why I could not keep money, going to look for it, and remembering it was only one person in my room, my "boyfriend". He would sit there and watch me cry, he didn't want anything but what I could offer. He was one of the reasons someone kicked my door n, shot my apartment up, stole my belongings. On my second day moving into my apartment, my microwave was stolen and he was the first to know and see my apartment. I lost everything and tried everything I could to do or figure out what I needed to do. To know these types of people stick around for what, knowing you are yearning for something you have always wanted love. Money does not buy happiness, you can spend all you want on someone but when it gets hard no one is there for you. You are lonely and lost. Being like this affects how you interact with people, the way you work, and will have you going in circles although everything you do is because of yourself. When I say I did not look to anyone for things that I have needed, and I worked for my motels, foods, clothing. People look at you laughing because they don't believe it just by how young you are. That is heartbreaking. I just stayed to myself for years, just to have a grown boy come around and use me when his mother put him out, or whoever. The days I have been through I think about the way I was treated, I think about it every day. I may need counseling for emotional support, but I have also realized that maybe this is something I needed to go through. To show me how ugly this world can be. What people think of young girls like me, just by how they look. The way a man can look at you, thinking you are desperate for any type of attention. I am pretty sure if I would have slept with any of those men, something would have happened. I was alone and young. I have been profiled by the police they thought I was prostituting. When the motel manager says "No, she is a good resident and keeps to herself" it shows a lot about the system. Being stereotyped because of the area you are in, and they can stop and see you are on your way to work. I fought with my mother for years, not knowing why she was always upset with me. Being told it was my fault because she was 8 months pregnant walking the stage, and how she should have cut me out her stomach is something I will never forget. A child does not ask to be in this world, especially one that is unwanted. I wanted to play sports, be in musicals but she never showed up. I tried to show her my good grades, she didn't care. I was stuck in a situation I could not get out of. I wanted to be with friends, go out and just have fun, but instead being forced to watch and basically raise your siblings is very hard on a child themselves. My youngest brother called me mom for the longest. I know that is something else she hates me for. I tried to even teach him I was his older sister. I would cry, but he didn't know any better. Having someone who is supposed to guide and love you put their hands on you constantly just for wanting to be pretty, or just go out and talk to the other girls. I was restricted from all communications.
By Khaliyah Bronaugh5 years ago in Families
Last Straw
The crash of a glass shattering woke me up. I climbed out of bed and padded out of the small bedroom I shared with my half-sisters. The kitchen was at the other end of the short hallway. There was no door, the yelling and screaming echoed through the house. Mum and Dad were fighting again, shouting words that my four-year-old brain couldn't understand. Money, drugs, bills, budget, none of these things had meaning for me. The yelling was scary. They were throwing things at each other, the kitchen table between them. Our parents fighting was normal, as was moving house every six months or so because Dad couldn't keep a job. I stood silently in the doorway, watching them with wide eyes and a pounding heart, unable to interfere or go back to bed. Shards of glass and porcelain lay scattered on the plain wooden floorboards, twinkling in the light of the dim bulb in the ceiling. I felt a presence at my side and looked down. My younger sister was standing beside me, gazing into the kitchen. I covered her eyes with my hands, wanting to shield her from the violence. Dad's older daughter was staying with her mother in the city. The scrape of wood on wood drew my attention back to the kitchen and I saw Dad in the act of shoving the table at Mum. It collided with her stomach, forcing her backwards into the wall. She was bent over, hands against the edge of the table, shock and pain on her face. A gasp escaped me, a mixture of terror and concern. Dad turned and spotted us. His eyes, already glaring furiously, narrowed even more and he screamed at us to get out and go back to bed. I grabbed my sister's hand and half-dragged her down the hallway to our room, where we huddled together on my bed with the blankets over our heads.
By RandomEllie15 years ago in Families
