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  • Throat Punch Thursday~ You Dirty Mommy Blogger Edition

    Throat Punch Thursday~ You Dirty Mommy Blogger Edition

    Throat Punch Thursday~Mommy Blogger

    Lately, there’s been a lot of controversy over the term Mommy Blogger.  Yes, I know I should be giving a hefty Throat Punch to Casey Anthony for being worst mom of the century but I think I’ve wasted enough time on making this sad and sorry woman into a celebrity. This is my last opinion on the subject: Casey Anthony is a woman who clearly has problems and has to live the rest of her life knowing that she has let her daughter down; that she will never hold Caylee in her arms again and that no matter what the jury decided, in the American Public’s eye, she is guilty in thought, word and action. In the end, she is alone and she is culpable.

    Moving on, as I was saying, the very term

    Mommy Blogger

    seems to be inciting revolutions. I am a Mommy who is a blogger. But I don’t blog about JUST being a Mommy. I am a human, with a vast array of thoughts and emotions. I have 38 years of life, experience and wisdom to share. I am worth more than the sum total of all my parts. It’s really disturbing to me to hear Moms who are bloggers disgusted and disgruntled by the fact that they are called mommy bloggers.  It is said in the blogging community almost as a dirty word or an insult.

    You know how you hear that teachers are not being paid very much and you think “what? These are the people educating our future” and then you think to yourself, “These people she be paid a million dollars a year.” They ARE making a difference. This is how I feel about Mommy bloggers.

    Or when you realize that there are entire countries where men think women are useless and have no voice. No opinion. No merit. It begs the question, how the fuck do you think you got here? There are entire continents that don’t want baby girls. But baby girls grow up to be women and women have babies. Babies perpetuate the human race. See where I’m going with this? Mommies are what make the world go round. Mommy bloggers share these experiences.

    Mommy Blogger

    So,when I hear a negative connotation associated with being a Mommy Blogger, it pisses me off. I work hard on my blog. I pour my heart, blood, sweat and tears onto the page to share with my readers. It’s not always about babies pooping, first days of kindergarten or photos of how cute my kids are. It’s not always gushing. Sometimes it a woman on the ledge sharing the deepest recesses of hardest moments of life. Sometimes I blog about how current events are effecting the world. Other times I use my life experiences and education to help my readers broaden their horizons and open their minds. Some days, I am pure sunshine and rainbows and am here to make you smile and laugh heartily. Either way, I think I serve a purpose for my readers and I know having the opportunity to share serves a purpose for me.

    The worst part is that not only is the term Mommy Blogger used in a derogatory way, it’s used most often by other bloggers. Worse still is the jealousy and competition that comes, not only from traditional journalists, but that from within the blogging community itself. I have met some amazing Mommies who are bloggers. I have learned so many important life lessons by sharing a community with these wise women…these mothers. But then, every once in a while, I see envy and competition raise it’s head. Is this where the negative view of Mommy Blogger is derived from?

    mommy blogger

    The Throat Punch this week goes to self-loathing Mommy Bloggers and all those who think that just because a blogger is a Mommy that she is less respectable than any other writer in social media. Shame on you! We are Mommies who Blog…hear us roar! And just because we share about parenting, doesn’t give you carte blanche to know every single thought we’ve ever had or the right to delve deeper than we are willing to share.

    What is your definition of a Mommy Blogger? Are you a Mommy Blogger? Are you embarrassed to be called such? Or are you loud and proud? Love to hear your thoughts.

    If you want the badge,grab it on the tool bar under buttons

    Proud Mommy Blogger

  • Truthful Mommy has a Facebook!

    It was requested and now we have one! Just click on the widget on the top right hand of this page and you too can be Truthful Mommy’s friend!Hope today’s as wonderful as you want it to be, and as great as you deserve!Happy Mothering!

  • Lifestyle

  • About

    About Me

    Hi! I’m Deborah Cruz but my friends call me, Debi.  I tell the TRUTH about Motherhood and now, I’ve even got the skinny on the teens. I’m a freckled Mexican from Chicago; first generation Mexican American, the oldest daughter of six children to a Mexican father and a southern mother. I’m the bicultural Marcia Brady, only my parents are Catholic so we share biological parents.

    I spoke differently because of the accents I grew up hearing. My brain rapid fires words with no filter. Being teased for my pressured speech led me to embrace the written word. It’s how I process everything.This is where my love of words and languages began. When I write, there is no confusion about what I’m saying. I tell you the truth, all of it, the good, the bad, the ugly and the funny.

    My unique language situation at home, led me to speak four languages; English, Spanish, French and Italian. I did before becoming a mom. Now, I’m fluent in baby, gibberish and currently, I’m mastering the art of tween and teen speak. I can still enjoy foreign films with no subtitles but that’s about it.

    I spent my childhood traveling to Mexico. This is where my love of travel was born. My dad was adamant that we immerse ourselves in the culture. We did and I’m grateful that he did this for us. I do the same for my girls. Now, we travel as much as possible together as a family. Nothing compares to seeing the world through the eyes of your children and teens.

    Life has thrown me a lot of obstacles from the beginning but I’m grateful for those struggles because they’ve truly made me stronger. It’s made me grateful for where I am because I know where I’ve been. Where there is a will, there is always a way. My parents taught me this.

    about, the truth about motherhood, baby, pregnancy, travel, teen, parenting, Deborah Cruz, the truth, Disney
    about, the truth about motherhood, motherhood, parenting, Deborah Cruz, the truth
    about, the truth about motherhood, motherhood, parenting, Deborah Cruz, the truth, how to help parents get through a child's health crisis, RMHC, McDonald's, keeping families together, Ronald McDonald House Charities
    spark goodness, random acts of kindness, teaching kids to be kind, how to raise kind children
    Lola, dog, pets, dog mom, homemade dog treats, peanut butter and banana dog treats, homemade dog treats, peanut butter and banana dog treats recipe, easy dog treat recipe, A Dog's Way Home

    About Our Family

    By fate, I ended up in the wrong place at the right time (Purdue University) and met the 6’5″  man who is everything I never knew I always wanted. He proposed after not quite four months of dating, thanks to a little help from Salma Hayek. Fools Rush In inspired the Big Guy to propose.

    We graduated college, got married, waited five years, went to New Orleans and got pregnant on street pizza. Best night of our lives. Then we grew up… sort of. Or maybe we just created our own little fun group of people to hang with. They say where there are no doors, create windows. Well, we had the same idea with humans. 

    We’ve currently been married for ever. Not saying we’re special, we just work hard to grow together instead of apart. It’s something we’ve actively done every day for the past 20 years. Obviously, I was a child bride. We’re now the proud parents of two daughters, Bella just turned 14 and Gabi is 11-years-old.

    When I started this blog, Bella was 3 and Gabi was 1-years-old. My girls have grown up on the blog. If you’ve read the blog for a while you’ll remember them as the 2 ballerina toddlers who liked to paint their faces with fire engine red Chanel lipstick and get pearls stuck up their noses. If you are new to The TRUTH, they are the two gorgeous models featured in fashion posts on my Instagram page. They are good girls with big brains, big smiles, and big hearts. Oh yeah, and eye rolls that will make your head spin and your abuelita raise up outta her grave with a chancla in hand.

    We are officially Walt Disney World addicts. My first pixie dusted trip was on our honeymoon. It took some convincing on the Big Guy’s part. However, when the only thing a man asks for at his wedding is to walk in to the Star Wars theme and to honeymoon at Disney World, you’ve got to at least consider it. It was 5-star magical and concierge level all the way. Our Disney World honeymoon convinced me that it could be as romantic as walking hand in hand in Europe.  We’ve gone 20 more times in the past 20 years.We even brought the kids a few times. You can bet we’re going back this year to celebrate our wedding anniversary.

    The Big Guy, Bella, Gabi and I currently live in the Midwest with our Victorian Bulldog, Lola.  She keeps us on our toes and in stitches.

    Over the years the TRUTH has evolved from just a little baby book full of mommyisms and how to survive the early years to us being on the brink of raising young ladies. I can tell you how to change a diaper, co-sleep, survive kindergarten drop off and discuss sex and guide your daughter through the murky waters of male attention. We’re only just beginning, and I don’t want to jinx it, but honestly, I love the tween and teen years.

    Every phase, I think I can’t love being a mom any more but then we get to the next stage and I fall in love with my girls all over again. Hold the phone, this is all true but that’s not to say my girls aren’t bat sh*t crazy some days. Teenage hormones are no joke. Currently, I’m just trying to raise good human beings and I think I’m doing a pretty good job.

    There’s a little bit of everything here; parenting from conception to the teen years, travel, politics, entertainment, delicious recipes, home decor and DIY renovations, tech and a little fashion and lots of sharing of all the things I love. Disney and Broadway are my jams. Also, this is the year of positivity so I’m getting healthy and sharing that journey.

    That’s us in a nutshell. I’m a word nerd with a Ricky Ricardo laugh. The Big Guy is a tech savvy savant with a sexy brain who helps me out on this blog. The girls are the reason for my smiles, my happy heart, my gray hairs, the holes in my closet and my checkbook.  They are my everything. They’re following in my footsteps and have their own website The Cool Girl Society where they hope to inspire all girls to be themselves and find the special within.

    Our favorite thing to do is be together; laughing, trying new foods, experiencing new cultures and exploring the world. For us, family is everything and everything is better together.

    About How I Work with Brands

    I’ve been a storyteller since I could write. My imagination always seemed to find its way to paper. For the past decade, I’ve been digitally storytelling on The TRUTH about Motherhood and on several other well-known parenting publications such as Parenting, Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, Cafe Mom Media, LatinaMom.Me and several others. Whether it’s telling the story of how your product has touched our family through a blog post, or sharing that story through photos and video, my goal is to tell an authentic and relatable story to my audience about your brand. I’ve built a relationship of trust with my readers and no amount of money is worth sullying that bond.  I am very selective about who I partner myself with. If I wouldn’t use your product in my own home, I refuse to tell the men and women who read this blog to do so in theirs. If you think your brand may be a good fit for me and/or my family, please reach out to me via email and I’ll send along my media kit and rates if I think it would be a mutually beneficial partnership.

    As Seen On:

  • I’m at MommyNaniBooBoo & the ORIGINAL Mommy Truisms

    I  have the pleasure of guest posting over at MommyNaniBooBoo today. I’m sure most of you know Jenni but if you don’t you should really check her out. She is the perfect mix of sweet and snark, she’s sweetly snarkilicious and funny as all get out. She is my must read and she has allowed me to grace her page.

    Please go check out my post today One is like One but two is Like Ten and leave some love! Meanwhile, I am leaving you with the original Mommy Truisms Post which posted on April 21, 2010. Hope you enjoy.

     

    This is something new that I thought I’d share. It is my list of Mommy truisms. I will post a few today and then  let them trickle in as they come to me from here on out. Happy Mothering!

       

    • No matter how beautiful/adorable your child is~ they are 100 times cuter when they are asleep.
    • Spit up is not an allowable accessory to any outfit, but as another Mommy I will let it slide because it is better than some of the alternatives i.e poop. pee. full on vomit, etc.
       

    • Modesty is a thing of the past! When in labor with my first, I was so embarrassed because my belly was so enormous that the gown didn’t cover my ass.Now after never peeing, pooping, waxing, shaving, showering, changing a feminine product alone, and a myriad of other so called ‘private’ things that I ‘share’ with my children due to lack of privacy…that modesty has passed. 
    • Mom’s who work outside of the home are brave, courageous, and strong.
    • Mom’s who stay home are braver, slightly crazy, extremely courageous, and in desperate need of a night out and some adult conversation.
    • Waking a sleeping child is like waking a sleeping bear; JUST DON”T DO IT!!!!
    • With the right motivation, Daddies are underrated and capable and willing to do so much more than we want to admit or allow them to do.

     

    These are my truisms for today. What are yours? I’d love to hear them!

  • Throat Punch Thursday~I’m a Loser baby edition

    Throat Punch Thursday,Korda Bailey This week, I was torn as to who to give the most deserved Throat Punch but it came down to one thing…I can’t stand a racist or a homophobe. I think you know where I am going with this. This weeks Throat Punch must be bestowed upon Kobe Bryant.It’s apparently not enough that he is an adulterer and alleged rapist, now he wants to be a homophobe. I know people say things in the heat of the moment that they don’t mean or that are taken out of context. But when you are in the public eye, you have to be more vigilant about not letting these things happen. It’s bad enough that you are a big enough asshole to think them, but let’s be a human and keep the mouth shut. I am pretty sure that there is a special place in hell where some day, Kobe Bryant, Mel Gibson and Hitler will be standing around a ring of fire while spouting slurs against mankind.

    I’m sure this will be swept under the rug, with the small slap on the wrist of the $100,000 fine. Soon, no one will remember. I mean hell, they’ve already forgiven him of all his other transgressions. I wonder if God has a special absolution rate for professional athletes too? How can people just look the other way? I don’t know. But I do know that I am giving this douche bag a Chuck Norris round house kick to the head with a very strong  junk punch ( since his junk apparently likes to wander and get him into trouble anyways). Maybe after he gets his kick , he can learn to keep his hateful asshole thoughts in his own head. Talk about poor sportsmanship!

    Throat Punch, Chuck Norris, Thursday, little boy shot in road rage incident,Korda Bailey, GeorgiaIf you want to join in the fun and Throat Punch someone, please link up your Throat Punch Thursday post here. Grab the button  ( under the “Buttons”tab at the top of the page) and place it in your post and leave a comment . This way I can come check out your post!

    THROAT PUNCH THURSDAY

  • How to Celebrate El Dia Del Nino

    How to Celebrate El Dia Del Nino

    This is a compensated campaign in collaboration with Nabisco and Latina Bloggers Connect in celebration of El Dia Del Nino .

    In the Mexican culture, family is everything. We are taught this from very early on, as children. We are taught to respect our elders as part of our history and to adore our children because they are our future. In life’s fickleness, we know that there is only one thing that we can truly count on and that is family.

    We’ve all heard of Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and even Grandparent’s day. They are big deals in our house. We earned it. I mean, 10 and 13 hours of labor, one open-wide Pitocin inducement and an unmedicated labor, definitely earned me one-day off a year. I look forward to it every single year. The Big Guy handles all the “mom” duties and nary an argument between children do I have to endure. I simply walk away and let daddy handle it. It is glorious.

    On Father’s Day, the same goes for him. He gets to sleep in and I field all bickering children. We’ve got a good system and it truly is the one thing we want more than anything; peace and quiet.

    April 30th is a Mexican holiday called El Día Del Niño (children’s day). Children are a very important part of our culture and society so the day focuses on the importance of loving, accepting and appreciating children.

    To celebrate, there are many things you can do. Basically, we make it a day about our girls so that they know they are loved (so pretty much like every other day but we do all the things they like to do). It’s more about celebrating having them in our lives. Letting them know they are blessings to our family and us. It’s a day of crafts, play and treats of their choice.

    In Mexico, special events with clowns, magicians, music, shows and balloons take place. Amusement parks as well as zoos and children’s museums usually offer discounts or special deals for children on this day. It’s the perfect day to take the kids to see one of their favorite movies in the theater, go on a family picnic in the park or just unplug for the day and give your little ones your full-undivided attention.

    This unique celebration is full of laughter and play, when adults are reminded of the importance of childhood and children teach us how joyful and simple life can be.

    For our snack this year, I’m making this fun and delicious Latino-Inspired treat Chips Ahoy! Plantain Quesadillas. It’s a sweet new twist on a family standby.

    Chips Ahoy! Sweet Plantain Quesadillas.

     

    Dia del Nino, Nabisco, Recipe for plantain quesadillas, Chips Ahoy, Latino recipes, dessert recipes

    • 10 min prep
    • 20 min total
    • Makes 8 servings, 1 wedge each.

     

    Ingredients

    • 4 oz. brick cream cheese, softened
    • 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
    • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
    • 4 flour tortillas (8 inch)
    • CHIPS AHOY! Cookies, coarsely chopped
    • 1/4 lb. frozen ripe plantains, cooked, cut into 16 slices
    • 1/3 cup thawed frozen whipped topping
    • 6 strawberries, each cut into 6 slices

    Dia del Nino, Nabisco, Recipe for plantain quesadillas, Chips Ahoy, Latino recipes, dessert recipes

    Instructions

    • Mix first 3 ingredients until blended; spread onto tortillas to within 1/2 inch of edges.
    • Reserve 2 Tbsp. cookies. Top half of each tortilla with remaining cookies and plantains; fold in half.
    • Spray nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat on medium heat. Cook each quesadilla 1-1/2 min. on each side or until heated through and lightly browned on both sides.
    • Cut each quesadilla into 3 wedges. Serve topped with whipped topping, strawberries and reserved chopped cookies.

    I’ve made this for my family before and they loved it. It’s a very decadent and rich dessert so we only have it on special occasions and only one serving. I know your family will love it as much as my family did.

    You can find other great recipe spins on traditional favorites on the Nabisco Pinterest page. If you’d like to try this recipe, here’s a coupon for $1.00 off your favorite Nabisco products.

    What’s your favorite treat to make for your children on special occasions like Dia Del Nino?

    This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Nabisco. The opinions and text about El Dia Del Nino are all mine.

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  • The Killer Look Every Woman Needs

    The Killer Look Every Woman Needs

    It’s Friday! Summer is winding down but we’ve got a few lazy weekends left until the leaves start changing color. I don’t know about you but I am looking more forward to this long weekend than I used to look forward to Friday nights when I was in my 20’s.

    I can’t wait to sleep in and have no place to be. Sure, I’d love to be lounging on a beach somewhere but to be honest, after the week we’ve had, that even sounds like too much effort. I just want to relax and enjoy my family. I’m thinking sleeping in, lounging by the pool, cooking out, an outdoor movie and s’mores and wine sound like the plan for me this weekend. Maybe even sneak in a little reading of something other than work related reading.

    Linda Fairstein has a new novel KILLER LOOK and it is page-turner, crime, mystery set in NYC in the fashion world. Anyone who really knows me knows that I have a fashion addiction and a minor in criminology, so this is right up my alley.

    A little bit about Killer Look, New York City is one of the fashion capitals of the world, well-known for its glamour and style. Nowhere is this more apparent than on the runway, where American haute couture continually astounds with its creativity, daring, and innovation in the name of beauty. Yet high fashion means high stakes, as Alex Cooper quickly discovers when businessman and designer Wolf Savage is found dead in an apparent suicide, mere days before the biggest show of his career. When the man’s daughter insists Savage’s death was murder, the case becomes more than a media sensation: It is a race to find a killer in a world created entirely out of fantasy and illusion.
    With her own job at the DA’s office in jeopardy, and the temptation to self-medicate her PTSD with alcohol almost too strong to resist, Alex is not anyone’s first choice for help. But she is determined to uncover the grime—and the possible homicide—beneath the glitz. Along with detectives Mike Chapman and Mercer Wallace, Alex must penetrate the twisted roots and mixed motives among the high-profile players in the Garment District. The investigation takes the trio from the missing money in Wolf Savage’s international fashion house to his own recovery from addiction; from the role of Louisiana Voodoo in his life to his excessive womanizing; and to the family secrets he kept so well-hidden, even from those closest to him—just as things are about to get deadly on the catwalk.

    I don’t know about you but even the synopsis has me on the edge of my seat. With Killer Look, Linda Fairstein proves once again why she is the “Queen of Intelligent Suspense.” And why shouldn’t she be? Linda Fairstein was chief of the Sex Crimes Unit of the district attorney’s office in Manhattan for more than two decades and is America’s foremost legal expert on sexual assault and domestic violence. She, herself, is the inspiration for Mariska Hargitay’s character on Law and Order SVU! Her Alexandra Cooper novels are international bestsellers and have been translated into more than a dozen languages.

    What makes a book about fashion and suspense even better? Getting to wear a little fashion bling yourself while engrossing yourself in a great book!

    Linda Fairstein, Killer Look, Swarovski, Touchstone crystal,fashion

    Thanks to Touchstone and Linda Fairstein, I’m giving away a Swarovski’s Touchstone Crystal Chanelle necklace, a special necklace that is modeled on a famous Swarovski Coco Chanel necklace that was “brought back from the Swarovski archives” by Touchstone Crystal and a copy of Killer Look for one lucky reader!

    a Rafflecopter giveaway

    Enter by telling me what your favorite Killer Look Touchstone piece is and why.

  • Throat Punch Thursday~ Josh Powell; Filicidal Son-of-a-Bitch Edition

    Throat Punch Thursday~ Josh Powell; Filicidal Son-of-a-Bitch Edition

    Throat Punch Thursday~Josh Powell, Susan Powell, Explosion, little boys, Washington

    Josh Powell; Daddy & Husband Fail of Epic Proportions

    Josh Powell; The Cowardly Killer~  What the Eff is up with all the shitty parents that keep ending up in the news for failing their children? Casey Anthony, Tarah Souder, Jackie Burkle and now, Josh Powell. Just another person on a long laundry list of those that should have been sterilized in the womb. Josh Powell is the father in Washington who,last Sunday, murdered his two small sons, Charlie and Brayden ( ages 5 and 7). The boys were brought to the door for their supervised visitation when Josh Powell grabbed the boys and pulled them in the house before promptly slamming the door in the face of the Child Protective Services worker who was supposed to be supervising the visit.The Child Protective Services worker immediately called 911 to report the incident, claiming that she smelled gasoline and was afraid for the boys lifes. She was told that 911 was reserved for emergencies. She said it was. Meanwhile, Josh Powell was taking a hatchet to his little boys ( a very small mercy in my opinion. At least they were dead before he set them on fire). Within minutes, the house exploded. Authority fail again.

    josh powell, susan powell, Brayden Powell, Charlie Powell, Utah, Washington, disappearance, explosion,homicide,fire

    Josh Powell; NOT Father of the Year

    Josh Powell was under suspicion in the case of the disappearance of his wife, Susan Powell. Susan Powell disappeared in 2008. Josh Powell claimed to not knowing what had happened to his wife. Sticking to the story that he had taken his, then, 1 and 4 year old on an impromptu camping trip in the dead of winter in the middle of the night, because that’s not suspicious.

    Initially, he was not even a suspect in the case of his missing wife. What? Who bought this crazy story? A child would be able to ascertain that the story he told the authorities was complete bullshit. If not for obvious reasons, then for the very reason that NO MOTHER would ever let someone take her small children camping in the middle of the night in the middle of a Utah winter. But the authorities could not see what the rest of us knew to be true.

    Now, after 3 years and a change of heart, Josh Powell was under investigation in the disappearance of his wife, Susan Powell. Maybe it had something to do with his son remembering that when they went on their “camping trip” Mommy was in the trunk. It sounds like a bad Eminem song, Bonnie and Clyde. His sons, Brayden and Charlie, had been removed from his custody pending a psychosexual evaluation thanks to his father being a pedophile of sorts. Josh Powell has only been able to see his sons under the supervision of a caseworker.
    To the authorities who were slow to respond to the 911 calls that the children might be in danger, the the law enforcement who didn’t poke hole sin Josh Powell’s ridiculous story of the midnight camping trip and ESPECIALLY to the piece of shit Josh Powell who killed his boys and allegedly killed his wife, throat Punch! The only thing Josh Powell did that was right in this whole scenario is have the good sense to blow himself up, of course, even that was a cowardly act to avoid incarceration.

    Josh Powell: May You Burn On for Eternity

    Hope you will link up your Throat Punch Thursday posts with me. I wanted to extend a personal invite to all of you to link up any posts in which you air a grievance, call out any asshatery,or just dole out a well deserved throat punch to one of societies shortcomings or political douche canoes. If not this week, I do it EVERY single Thursday and would love for any or all of you to join in! All you have to do is grab the Throat Punch Thursday button ( listed under the “about” tab at the top of the page), put it in your blog post and link up.Since GFC is abandoning  Wordpress blogs in March please consider subscribing via RSS or email. May Brayden and Charlie Powell, rest in peace and be finally reunited with their mother’s loving arms. Josh Powell, may hell’s fire bring brighter and hotter just for you.

  • Dad Refuses to Abandon Son with Down Syndrome, Mom Divorces Him

    Dad Refuses to Abandon Son with Down Syndrome, Mom Divorces Him

    In Armenia, a baby boy was born with Down syndrome. His father, Samuel Forrest heard his newborn son’s cries, as he excitedly waited outside of his wife’s delivery room to meet him. But the new father was not immediately invited into the room. Instead, this happened.

    “This pediatrician walks out of the room with a little bundle — that was Leo,” Forrest said. “She had his face covered up and hospital authorities wouldn’t let me see him or my wife. When the doctor came out, he said ‘there’s a real problem with your son.’

    Forrest was told that Leo was diagnosed with Down syndrome.

    He was shocked, as any parent would be to get such unexpected news, but he held his son and all he felt was the overwhelming, unconditional love that we all feel when we hold our newborn for the first time. Of course there is a time of grieving for what you’ve lost and a time for processing, you have to wrap your mind around this new reality; what you get not matching up with what you’ve expected.

    Leo, Samuel Forrest, Down Syndrome

    Next, he walked into his wife’s hospital room, holding his precious newborn son, beaming with new father pride and then the other foot dropped. His wife presented him with an ultimatum: if he chose to keep the baby, she would divorce him. She had already discussed it with the doctors and decided to abandon the child to an orphanage, a practice that is accepted in Armenia. To me, that feels like throwing children away like garbage.

    Forrest didn’t want to lose his wife. He loves her. But he just could not find it in his heart to abandon Leo. He refused to give his son up. Wasting no time, a week later, Leo’s mother filed for divorce and left them both.

    Now, this dynamic father/son duo are alone in the world and need a lot of help. Forrest is planning to move back to his native New Zealand so that he can get support from his family and friends.

    Forrest was asking for donations to his GoFundMe page, to help cover lost wages so that he can stay home with Leo, at least for the first year. He was hoping to raise $60,000 but when I checked this morning he had raised $272, 787, which will go a long way in insuring that Leo is taken care of.

    I hope that when Leo is older and told the story of how the world did not abandon him and his father in their time of need, it will help alleviate some of the sting of the fact that his own mother abandoned him.

    As for the mother in this story, I feel sorry for her. She is missing out on the honor of loving and raising her child because she can’t see past his disability. People are more than disabilities and every single child deserves a parent’s devoted and unconditional love. I won’t condemn her because I think living with the guilt of abandoning Leo will be enough of a punishment for her lifetime. I feel sorry for her. She is probably one of the most hated women in the world today thanks to this story going viral.

    Someone made the comment that in the United States a woman who found out that her baby had Down syndrome in utero could simply abort the fetus. I guess that is technically true thanks to genetic testing but the question is how many of us would?

    It’s not a decision I could make, that’s why I refused genetic testing for Down syndrome with my first two pregnancies because for me, it wouldn’t have made a difference but that is just how my heart chose and it’s easy to sit on my moral high horse when I never actually had to make that decision.

    I want honest answers, so comment anonymously if you want to, but what do you really think of the practice of being able to walk away from a baby born with Down syndrome or any other disability?