A Gift for Mom! 🤍
1. Tell me a little about yourself.
Hey Little Fighter is a blog for special needs parents run by two ordinary moms… with a not so ordinary life! Michelle and Carla are moms to two special little kids. Michelle’s son, Caleb, was 10 weeks premature and has spent a large part of his life hospitalized, undergoing procedures and under surgical care in the nation’s top hospitals. Carla’s daughter, Lyla, was born healthy and beautiful. At 15 months old, she was diagnosed with stage III neuroblastoma. Her treatment was intense and culminated in a critical surgery to remove a tumor wrapped around her spine in Mayo Clinic. Our attitude towards life is what we put forth in our blog, a positive mindset in the face of difficulty.
When did you start blogging and why?
Hey Little Fighter came to be in March of this year. Our inspiration for it was based on our need to create a space for parents who need guidance, support and resources through the difficult journey of the hospital life, no matter the diagnosis.
3. What are some of your favorite sites on the ‘net?
Aside from the positive and uplifting articles we read on Her View From Home, we love reading articles on The Mighty, the Thriving blog at Boston Children’s Hospital’s website and Humans of New York.
4. What does a typical day look like for you?
Both us mamas are stay at home working moms. Carla is expecting her second baby and raising a busy, strong willed and beautiful 3-year-old girl. Michelle is home schooling her 5-year-old tubie. We both spend our days dedicated to watching our children grow, running our home (or having it run us) at doctor’s appointments, and our writing. Oh yeah, we talk to each other on the phone. A lot.
5. What advice do you have for someone who wants to blog or share her/his story?
We believe you have something worth saying. If you believe it too, nothing should stop you. Stories we read online have the impact to change our attitude, turn our day around and help us make the best out of not so good situations. So our advice is, share your story in a way that will help others, radiate a positive attitude. Many people will not only learn something, but grow, all thanks to your view on life.
6. What story are you most proud of?
We are most proud of two pieces we wrote that poured from our hearts. The first is an open letter to our children’s surgeon. It says it all.
The second is a piece written for parents going through a seemingly invisible diagnosis with their child. Our struggle is often left unseen to the world, and special needs parents should know, we are here to help support their journey.
7. How can people follow you?
I’ve given birth to four beautiful boys and lived through four postpartum experiences. Each one has been different, yet there are familiar threads that run through them all. In the first couple of weeks after my first baby was born, I felt carefree…until that bubble was popped. My newborn got sick and was admitted to the PICU at a children’s hospital 30 minutes from our home. At one point, doctors mentioned the possibility of meningitis, but after many tests and a several-day admission, we were sent home. When we were discharged, a doctor left me with these words, “It’s your...
No one can really prepare you for how much friendships change in your 40s. We expect life shifts—kids grow, schedules fill, jobs demand more, and aging parents need us in new ways. Time becomes tighter, priorities change, and naturally, friendships have to adjust. That part makes sense, right? But what doesn’t get talked about enough is the quiet, hard shift, the one where it’s not just time or distance creating friendship gaps, but something deeper. What happens when you look around your “table” and realize it no longer feels like a safe place to land? What happens when you start...
There’s something about sisterhood that’s so special. It’s having someone who’s seen every version of you—every awkward, messy, beautiful version—and loves you through it. Someone who holds a piece of your heart in a way nobody else can. Someone who remembers the little things that made you…you. And my sister? She’s that person for me. We couldn’t be more different. She’s extroverted, the life of the party, spontaneous, the more the merrier, always seeing the good in everything. I’m the cautious one, the loner, the guarded one, more comfortable sitting on the sidelines. I’ve always admired her and secretly wished...
Divorce often feels like the scarlet letter no one talks about. Some in our generation may call it “trendy”—particularly as women have become more independent and empowered—but whether it’s socially acceptable or not, it is still a label no woman enters marriage expecting to wear. Women are often self-sacrificing—sometimes to a fault. We give and give until our souls feel nearly drained. And in marriages marked by abuse, substance abuse, infidelity, inconsistency, or dishonesty, we still convince ourselves that if we just give a little more, love a little harder, try a little longer, something will change. Divorce is not...
By now, you’ve probably seen the posts flooding your feed: A young mom. Three little boys. A guitar strap embroidered with her children’s drawings. And a crown. When Hannah Harper won American Idol this week, moms everywhere erupted. And honestly? Same. There is something collective about watching a stay-at-home mom win on such a large stage. The celebrations have been pouring in. Moms, we can do it. She didn’t abandon her dreams. She went for it. And all of that is true, and all of that is worth celebrating. But I want to add something to the celebration. Not to...
Mother’s Day is one of the hardest days of the year for me. The truth is, I always wanted to be a mom. I’m not a mother. Not in the traditional sense. And while I usually stay quiet on days like this, today I want to speak for the ones who carry this ache quietly…without cards, without flowers, without answers. In college, I was the girl with pillows under her shirt, daydreaming about baby names and planning a future I never got to hold. I once bought a house and made a nursery for children who never came. I remember...
I’m in the years where I’m not old, but I’m no longer young. Some women my age are just announcing their first pregnancies, while others like me are navigating pre-teen and teenage years. The 30s hold a different kind of tension. The days move faster now. Not because little feet are toddling through the house, but because the calendar is always full. Afternoons are spent running kids to practices, sitting in parking lots, and juggling dinner between drop-offs and pick-ups. The conversations are deeper. The questions are bigger. The stakes feel higher. This season isn’t about sticky fingers and sleepless...
I didn’t need a sick day. I needed a well day—and I didn’t realize how much until I finally took one. We’ve labeled our time off into neat, acceptable categories. Sick days are for fevers and doctor appointments. Personal days are reserved for emergencies and obligations. But what about the in-between days? When there’s no real diagnosable health issue and no major event or appointment that needs attendance. The days when there’s nothing technically wrong, but everything feels off. A day when you’re barely hanging on, but still showing up. That’s where the well day comes in. On behalf of...
I’m Learning To Feel Like I Belong In a Room Because I Want Her To Know She Always Does
In: Living, Motherhood
It took me 39 years to like myself. I mean really, honestly look in the mirror and say, “You go, girl.” I understand the concept of progress, not perfection, but the idea of always working on myself became a tiring and unrelenting objective. Here I was shrinking that waist, smoothing my skin, studying hard, working way too late, and often burning the candle at both ends to yield results that were still less than the ideal. It’s all well and good to be a doer who sets reasonable and sometimes unreasonable goals, but throughout my teens and into my early...
Dear Graduate, I know you’re feeling it all right now. Anticipation, trepidation, and then other times, you don’t know what to feel at all. I know because I once felt the same. I graduated from high school several years ago, and here’s what I want you to know: It’s okay if you don’t have it all figured out. Sounds cliché, but it’s true. Whether you plan to attend college, take a gap year, get a job, or you don’t know yet what you want to do, it’s okay. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. It’s so easy to fall into the...
