parents

The boundless love a parent has for their child is matched only by their capacity to embarrass them.

A Tale of Two Mothers
On this mothers day I reflect on the relationship and lack thereof that I have had with my mother over the years. The role of a mother, to provide nurturing and support, was a role that my mother wasn't quite ready for. At nine months old, she abandoned me in a small southern town under the assumption that she would return when her core training with the United States Army was complete. She did not fully return for many years. For the next decade she was like an imaginary friend, appearing and then dissapearing, as though she was a figment of my imagination. The memories I have of that time are of a woman covered in glow of glitter and theatrics, always smiling this gleaming white smile. A Halle Berry haircut circa Boomerang. To me my "mom" was more like a fairy godmother. She appeared with gifts and left me to return to rags at midnight.
By Deana Barnes6 years ago in Families
Mother's Day
Eyes open slowly. Blurs run my sight. Gradually moving into focus, a female figure takes form, and my mind constitutes the figure as the central entity. With eyes wide open, nothing but sounds and cries release from my vocal cords to grab attention. Unknown to the reason I continue.
By The Kind Quill6 years ago in Families
A day worth millions of celebrations
Every year, I celebrate my birthday with great zest and enthusiasm with all my near and dear ones as the day reminds me how grateful I am for this beautiful life and spending one more eventful year on this earth. However, I never planned to celebrate a day for a person, who bore an excruciating pain for nine months to bring me into this life. An angel becomes a guiding soul in this alien world and a guardian to protect me from the odds. Who unceremoniously takes up the role of a teacher, friend, mentor, role model and so to this day, and still in return wish only the best of me.
By Amit Kalra6 years ago in Families
The Christmas Present Cabbage Patch Doll
This is about a very special Christmas story with my family. When I was little I never wrote a letter to Santa ever telling him what I wanted. Every year I would get the most cool presents & this is one of those special times.I was 8 years old we had just moved to West Chester Ohio from Bowling Green Ohio. My parents in Bowling Green found a really kind,caring babysitter, they wouldn't leave me with just anyone. So when we moved here they hadn't found one yet to watch me while they did Christmas shopping.
By Tara Firman6 years ago in Families
Something Funny I think Moms will understand
I come from a family of a brother,sister, & of course mom & dad I'm the oldest. Here's a funny story that I'm sure will make a lot of people laugh. Ok so here's a day without my dad summer time because he's out of town on business. It's 2 Pm & my mom was really tired she said,"Tara would you please watch after your brother & sister while I take a 10 minute nap." I said, "Okay" my brother Jason who was 3 at the time was near the fireplace playing with his toy cars. We were all in the family room,mom was on the couch & I said,"Where's Tricia?" Mom said,"She's upstairs." So I went upstairs to get her to bring her down stairs so I could watch both of them while my mom rested on the couch. By the time I got back down stairs with my sister who was 2 at the time by the way I'm 13. My brother was playing with his cars however he had gotten into the fireplace that hadn't been cleaned yet & soot was all over the carpet & the bricks of the fireplace. I said,"Oh no MOM" She said,"What?" then opened her eyes & saw the mess. She said,"I thought I told you to watch your brother & sister?" I was like um okay duh I was thinking would never dare say that out loud but was thinking it. I said,"Mom I went upstairs to get Tricia,because you told me to watch both of them." She said,"Ok I'm done with my 5 minute nap"So she got up off the couch to clean up the mess he had made.
By Tara Firman6 years ago in Families
Six Signs of Narcissism in Parents
We talk about narcissism a lot in modern culture, often quick to accuse self-righteous, entitled or selfish people of being narcissists. A narcissist is someone who has an inflated sense of self, they demand attention, they have no cares about how they affect other peoples lives, they don't handle loss of control well and they are prone to manipulative behaviours.
By iceprincelebrat6 years ago in Families
My Amazing Mama
The woman that I must admire in life, is the same woman to taught me how to be me. She is the one who to taught me how to love, who let me know that it is okay to cry, and who gave me values to cherish. This woman who is no longer among the living is still alive in me, she is very much a part of me, she was and still is… my Mama.
By Amanda J Mollett6 years ago in Families
Memories of the 1980s
When researching through oral history, a historian is able to derive a biased and personal opinion on how historical events occurred. Oral history is normally used to obtain insight on an individual’s personal take on a point in their history, but a historian can derive more information about the time period and people the individual interacted with from their oral history. By focusing on why someone would mention or not mention a specific part of the history can allow historians to learn more than just what the individual tells them. To obtain the information for my oral history research I had a conversation with one parent at a time, prompting them with topics like pop culture, politics, music and recording our conversation. By recording our conversations, I was able to capture everything my parents had to say about the time period without the possibility of leaving anything that may be important out. I also made sure I had a conversation with each parent separately in order to avoid one from influencing the other's memories of the 80s.
By dizzy186 years ago in Families
A FATHER FOREVER GONE
Can you imagine losing all contact with your father for 32 years, and then happily reunite. Only, to have him snatched away by Death, that invisible presence, that always lingers, attacking at the first sign of weakness and vulnerability.
By Joan Marsh6 years ago in Families
The Other Side Of The Story
Life is a never-ending stream of uncertainty the only time it ends it's when one dies. Having a life, they say is full of many things. Love and hatred, loneliness and companionship, joy and sorrow, ups and downs. They intertwine, some experience both sides evenly while others experience the downside more often than the upside of life. The way your life turns out depends on how you as an individual work towards it. How your energy (positive and negative) is and how your creator has planned it to be. But that cannot be it as I pounder further into what life is all about. There are so many other things that determine how someone's life turns out to be. As a young child growing up, I taught being at the top, or being successful has to do with a lot of hard work, having big plans and being through very tough and difficult times in life. As I grow older, I noticed there were other things that shape one's life and not just being through difficult times. Then I started looking at luck in different individuals around me. It might be that some people are just lucky and some not lucky but thinking it through, I asked myself how is that possible because people around me experience luck differently.
By Elma6 years ago in Families
Self-Care for the Busy Mom (It’s Not a Joke!)
Too often, we believe that being a good mom means putting everyone ahead of ourselves. The fact is, if we don’t take care of ourselves, we get burnt out. We lose patience and emotional balance and often find ourselves doing things we don’t want to do, like yelling. Self-care for busy moms is neither a joke nor a frill. It’s a crucial part of your life, and you need to make time for it.
By Wendy Miller6 years ago in Families
Dear Mama.
Dear Mama, You worked 10 hours a day as a food courier before this pandemic broke out. You tirelessly put your life on the line even before this viral virus; praying every time you jumped behind the wheel that the feeble Fiat would last just one more day. I didn’t need this illness to know just how much I appreciate you.
By Selei Cho6 years ago in Families