We recently asked the moms of the BuzzFeed Community to tell us about a moment that made them realize they were a good mom. These were the most relatable and moving responses:
1. "My daughter draws pictures of our family every single day. I think about that when I'm having doubts about my parenting."
2. "The neighborhood kids were playing outside. While I was watching through my window, I saw my 10-year-old son pick up a little girl who fell and carry her to her home."
3. "I got help for postpartum depression when I was truly scared out of my mind and convinced I wouldn't survive with an infant and a toddler both under two. That phone call changed my life and theirs. I'm here, happy, and thriving."
4. "Seeing my baby breathe on his own for the first time in four months. He spent six months in the hospital and four on life support. I know that all the hours we spent, just being there with him, helped him survive."
5. "There was a sad person in a book I was reading to my 2-year-old. He said, 'Uh oh! He sad. He needs his mama.' I’m so glad he knows I’m here for him."
6. "My 18-year-old daughter offered to go to the prom with a boy with autism that didn’t have a date. He wasn’t from her school, she’d never met him, but she read the post and immediately asked me to message his mom and see if he wanted her to be his date."
7. "I was walking my son to first grade, holding hands and talking, when he stopped and said, 'Mommy, you make me feel more confident.' My heart grew ten sizes that day."
8. "My daughter has Reactive Attachment Disorder from years of neglect and upheaval in the foster system. Despite living with us for almost two years, she still regularly panics and acts out at bed time. Tonight, after spending an hour helping her through her panic, she looked at me and said, 'Mommy, I am safe, I am loved, and I am OK.'"
"We have said that to her every night since day one but today was the first time she said it to me without any prompting."
9. "As an infant, my daughter shot poop across a Family Bathroom and I cleaned it up. Based on other bathrooms, not all moms do. You're welcome."
10. "My 4-year-old had been going through a challenging phase that made me dread the bedtime routine. I felt like it took forever and that all I did was yell and get frustrated. Around that time, her preschool teacher asked the class, 'What makes your mommy so special?' And this was her response."
11. "Every day when I come home and my 20-month-old runs around, super excited to see me, then hugs me."
12. "Let me preface this by saying my son's father has never been in his life, by his own choice. One day, when my son was six, he asked me why he didn't 'have a father.' I expected this to happen eventually, but never really knew what I was going to say."
"Somehow the words formed into the perfect response, and I told him, 'Kiddo, you have a father, but sometimes when people become parents they're not ready to be parents. Unfortunately, he wasn't ready when you came around, but thankfully I was. Maybe one day he will be, but until then you've got me 100%.' He took a minute to think about it and said, 'Mommy, I wish there was two of you so one of you could take a break and relax.' I knew then I was doing something right."
13. "The moment I realized my daughter loved to read as much as I do. That’s when I knew I was doing something right."
14. "Whenever my daughter succeeds at something she’s been trying hard to do, I ask her how she feels. My heart melts when she answers, 'I feel proud!'”
15. "When someone complimented my 6-year-old daughter's looks and she responded with, 'If you like my eyes, then you should see my heart! It’s more important and more precious than my eyes!'
16. "Realizing that I took care of two tiny humans at once and have always put all of my kids first even when it isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Being a good mom is a lot about sacrificing your feelings and wants and needs, and I love that I’ve done all that and more with no regrets."
17. "I grew up in a physically abusive house and I swore to myself that I would never treat my kids the same way. I have a newborn (3 weeks) and a 2-year-old and I’m stressed, tired, and frustrated most of the day."
"Recently, I left my 2-year-old for a minute and came back to find her and everything in the room COVERED in diaper rash cream. My immediate response was shock, laughter, and then to run the bath. I know what the reaction would have been if it had been 30 years earlier and me covered in the cream. I am so glad I’m breaking that cycle."
18. "I sat and hugged my 3-year-old when she was covered in vomit. She was so upset about puking, but calmed down almost immediately when I put my arms around her. I didn't even care that she put her wet, sour cheek against mine."
"This was huge for me because I have a fear of vomit. I had to wash the chunks out of my hair but felt like a good mom."
19. "I have some mom guilt over how much I work (usually 60-ish hours a week). My goal for 2019 was to play with my toddler-aged daughter more so I signed us up for a small music class."
20. "My first grader brings home a writing journal every six weeks. Almost every day she writes something about me. It's just little things, but 'mommy' is on almost every page."
21. "When I finally got a sleep schedule set for my daughter and she slept through the night...in her own crib!"
22. "Sitting on the bathroom floor in the children’s hospital ICU, crying my eyes out and breast-pumping for my 13-month-old while he was having his neuroblastoma tumor removed."
23. "At my 4-year-old daughter's preschool parent/teacher conference, the teacher told us about a little girl who showed up late in the school year, sad and terrified, and how my daughter told her not to be sad and that she would be her friend."
"When my daughter started preschool and told us she was scared, we told her that lots of kids would be scared, and that she should be the nice girl who helps the kids who are sad or scared. She was, and I am so proud of her."
24. "My 4-year-old daughter was having severe separation anxiety and tantruming every morning when I left for work. One day in a moment of genius I took off my necklace, put it around her neck, and told her she 'now had a little bit of mommy' with her all day. Presto, no more tantrums!"
25. "Whenever our daughter peacefully falls asleep in my arms."
26. "Wiping away tears and taking care of boo-boos always makes me feel like my kid's personal superhero."
27. "My daughter is actually my step-daughter, but I’ve raised her since she was 6 months old. Whenever she says, 'Everyone hates me!” or something similar, I remind her that I am not her mommy because I had to be, I am hers because I CHOSE to be. Then she made me this card out of nowhere the other day."
Submissions have been edited for length and clarity.