Latest Stories
Most recently published stories in Families.
Schedules vs Newborns
Starting out as a new parent(s) you just want to do what is best for your baby but also have time to relax yourself and get things done. I was always told you can't put a newborn on a schedule but I decided that it was worth a try. A few weeks before my due date, I decided that I would make a list starting off with how many times she poops, tinkles, eat, naps and when bedtime was. I made sure I had the list hanging up so my husband would know and put down the times that any of these things would occur and how long her naps lasted.
By Quiana Guzman8 years ago in Families
One Step Forward
A couple of months ago, my family and I were blessed with a beautiful miracle, my baby sister. She was prenatally diagnosed with spina bifida. The road that led my mom and our family to the birth of this baby was a long and difficult one, especially since when she was diagnosed at about 18 weeks, my mother was encouraged to terminate.
By ABEGADII ZENGOOL8 years ago in Families
Does Family Always Come First?
I'm sure you all have heard the saying, "Blood is thicker than water," referring to family coming before anyone else. I used to use that saying all the time, until I grew up. Of course, it still stands true, but I'm here to let you know that it doesn't HAVE to be the case all the time.
By Amelia Hart8 years ago in Families
My Whole Family Is Dead - My Story
Today is a very special day. Today I reclaim my birth name, Niki, and share a few intimate stories of my life with you. I share them with vulnerability, rawness and love. As many people know, a little over 2 years ago I took on the name Jaya. Some of you know the true shift I went through during this time and how very REAL changing my name was. Some of you do not know of my name-changing journey and believed it to be "just a social media thing," but believe me, this was a choice that saved my life.
By Niki Cozmo8 years ago in Families
Because We Love You
When I was younger, I learned to be ashamed of everything. I was always “too nervous”, “too quiet”, too ME. At the time I never fully understood why I couldn’t sit still no matter how hard I willed myself to. I couldn’t concentrate in class, and that made me a bad child, because I would finish my workbooks before everyone else and doodle in my binder.
By Jesse Lee-Young8 years ago in Families
Family by Choice
I was just a baby when an amazing family chose to take me in as their own and make me a part of their family. As a kid I wouldn’t appreciate what they did for me, I couldn’t because I didn’t understand it yet. Growing up adopted I always felt like something was missing, a piece of me. I longed to know who my “real” parents were. My mom and dad always just told me that my mommy couldn’t take care of me and gave me to them so I could have the best life. As I got older I also grew more curious as to why my mom didn’t want me.
By Courtney Richards8 years ago in Families
Young Girl
As I wake Mollee up for school, we start fighting about being quite due to her siblings who are asleep (which are 5 and 20 months). I watch her brush her hair, she brings me a brush to style her hair, and she only brushed the middle in the back. WHY? You must ask. She doesn't like brushing her sides due to fly a ways and her bangs will get in her nose (she has side bangs), now that is done we move to breakfast. I ask her what she would like she runs (once again) quite please, to the kitchen. She yells from the kitchen “ I am quite”. I try to keep calm at this moment because I have been up all night with the baby who is teething. I ask again what she would like for breakfast. She wants a candy cane. I said no. She said cookies, I just gave the mommy look of no. She crosses her arms and stomps around because she doesn't want fruit or even a bowl of cereal. So I tell miss prissy she had one more chance to choose. She doesn't want ant anything and walks out. Five minutes till leave to go to school she decides she wants breakfast. I told her to eat it at school because she can't eat that fast and would be late, again I'm the bad person. So I ask her if she got her teeth brushed. Her answer was no because I wouldn't let her have breakfast. So she runs in the bathroom, tells me she brushed her teeth (I believed she did a mouth rinse and called it a day). So we go out the door to school she gets on her bike. Which it's 45° with a 40 real feel and windy. Told her I would take her and because I wouldn't let her ride her bike, she was mouthy and told me she was gonna be late if she rode in the car to school. So I got her in the car and listen to her cry and pout for three half blocks to school. Told her to dry to tears, can't go into school with a wet face. While I give her kisses on her forehead, hug her and tell her to have a good day. She turns to me and tells me she would if she could have a candy cane for breakfast. #dangcandycanes. This all happened in 45 minutes of our school morning. Once she gets to school about five minutes, her teacher calls and asked if my daughter had breakfast, and I told her the same story. Her teacher laughed and could hear a smile and said I have a child like that and stated her child is still that way after 13 years. So when my child came home that afternoon I asked if she had breakfast, she did and her teacher watched her. I said she did this because she called me. Mollee started yelling at me she told her teacher I starved her over his candy cane (I gave the mommy look of YOU DID WHAT). So after dinner that night I asked her if she wanted a candy cane for a snack, she didn't she wanted hot chocolate and I about fell over.
By Pasty Frazier8 years ago in Families
5,739 Steps to Her Last Breath
Five thousand, seven hundred and thirty-nine. That’s the number of steps I took the day cancer took you from my life. Statistics from the Canadian Cancer Society states that on average, 221 Canadians will die from cancer every day. And you Nannie, happened to be one of them on January 28th, 2017. Five thousand, seven hundred and thirty-nine steps. That number seems so small considering that day felt like an eternity. The steps I remember so clearly were the steps I took running barefoot outside to the car at the end of January. Although I had no time to put my old dirty white converse. I would simply have to put them on in the car, barefoot in the middle of a Canadian winter, it was. The drive to the hospital was excruciating. The car was full with whoever was at my house that night. My younger cousins were scared and screaming as we had rushed them into the car. The hospital is only a short drive from your house Nannie but wow did it ever go by so slow.
By Haley Steeves8 years ago in Families
Being Grateful
I cannot tell you how great it feels to hit that “Write” button after so many months of having a mental creativity block. Recently I was inspired to recreate the look of my blog and, when I did, I remember how I felt when I first created it…optimistic and motivated. Writing again, I feel as if I am in my comfort zone, sitting in front of my brightly lit computer screen at roughly 3 AM, listening to the clicking and typing of my keyboard, pouring out all my thoughts and feelings that have been kept inside of me for these past four months and, let me tell you, it feels amazing. As I am sitting here, trying to think about what I could possibly write about next, one thing in particular hits me, it was a conversation I had today with my mom and little brother. See let me start from the beginning. Growing up, I was extremely outgoing, friendly, and not one shy trait in me, basically carefree, but as I got older I became more conservative and really cared about what people thought of me. See growing up in Rosedale is pretty difficult, because a majority of my friends lived in large homes, had extraordinary birthday parties, and had a large selection of material objects you wish you could have, but realistically you know you cannot, so you say and do things to help you fit in. I was one of those children. See in fourth grade, I had a crazy, active, creative imagination. I kept my parents away from the school because little did they know, I was living a double life during school hours. I wasted a school year telling my friends I had my own Build-A-Bear workshop, McDonalds, and ferris wheel all in my larger than a millionaire's house backyard. Everyday during groups, everyone would lean in close to hear my stories about how I got to travel and I made so many friends…. I was the center of attention. Then, one day, my mom showed up at the school to surprise me and well, you can probably guess what happened… “Oh my gosh, are you Amanda’s mom? Can we go to your house? I want to build a bear! I want chicken nuggets! I want to ride the ferris wheel!” and let me tell you, I will never forget the look on my mom's face. As a child, you don’t know any better than just wanting to make friends and wanting to fit in, but that look on my mom's face made me feel ashamed and I knew exactly what I did was wrong. As you get older, you just stop caring about what people think and you start living your life, because, in reality, people are going to reject you no matter the choices you make. Looking back, I didn’t have to lie, we lived in a beautiful gated community with a home that my parents built together from scratch. We take these things for granted and we don’t realize we have these things until they are gone. It’s sad how society can turn an 8-year-old girl insecure about things she already has, but doesn’t realize it. I now see this happening in my youngest brother who is 12. Although, I started lying at a younger age, I can tell he doesn’t want us around as much as he used to. The idea of my parents and I coming to his school events makes him cringe and he slowly slips away. He stops giving us the school event papers and he doesn’t get excited for future days like his 6th grade party, Bulldog day, and graduation. He could still be lying and embarrassed, kind of like I was when I was younger, but that might not be the case here. I guess his friends at school believe it's uncool and weird to bring your family to family events like open house and things like that, and it’s sad, ya know? Society ruining my little brother's head like that… he is the last baby in the family, the last child for my parents to watch grow up. You may not believe me when I say his friends say these things, but we’ve been attending this elementary school for 15 years and the attendance rate for tonight’s open house was the lowest my mom and I have ever seen… and we’ve been to every single one, since 2002. Going back to the conversation that influenced me to write today, I found myself holding back tears as I explained to my brother that my biggest regret was not appreciating my parents being as involved in my life as they were. My parents showed up to every school event, or at least tried to, to the best of their ability, and now here I am, going to be 20-years-old next year, wondering where time went and realizing the only family event I get to look forward to is my college graduation. I no longer get to walk my parents around campus to show them my classrooms, my handmade art projects my teacher hung on the walls, my own desk I kept so clean with my FREE educational books. I no longer get to show them my Valentine’s day boxes, my AR reading goals, or take them to my Honor Roll Banquets. I am still a child to those who are older than me, but in reality, I am not. I just hope he and other kids realize… time flies. Don’t be ashamed of yourself or your family. You can feed into the ways of society and your friends, but remember this… “Friends come and go, but family is forever.”
By Amanda Ante8 years ago in Families
The Worst Day of My Life
When I was 20 years old, I needed to figure out what the fuck I was doing with my life, or so my mother said. I was perfectly fine wasting away, with my shitbag boyfriend, Luke, wasting days to countless different types of uppers and some downers. I weighed a grand total of 95 pounds, soaking wet, and was barely eating. I would live my life around being fucking traumatized by being fucking raped that eating seemed like such a fucking trivial activity.
By Mickie Hoffman8 years ago in Families
