In 2015, I became a mother when I welcomed my sweet boy, Deacon, into this world. He brought out the best in me, and honestly, I never knew I could love someone as much as I loved him. I was a single mom, so it was just Deacon and me.
I wanted to be the best possible mom for him, so that started with endless research (or, what I thought was research) during pregnancy. I spent hours looking at different parenting styles, finding the best car seat, tips for breastfeeding and so on. You could ask me anything about motherhood and I would have the answer.
After reading articles on Google and seeing what the mommy bloggers were doing, I became one of those “all natural mamas.” I cloth diapered because it was supposedly better for the environment, and I tried co-sleeping to see if it increased my breastmilk supply. For my baby shower, one of the first items on the gift list was a Baltic amber teething necklace. It’s a string of Baltic amber beads supposed to soothe teething pain.
It seemed like a natural alternative to Tylenol that would help my baby. Putting one of these necklaces on my son felt like proof that I had done my research and was committed to natural parenting—or so I thought. Deacon was such a vibrant boy, but he was also gentle and incredibly sensitive.
He was just 18 months old, but he had the biggest heart. He was capable of being that energetic little boy running around with a soccer ball, while also being the kid in the grocery store who made people stop in their tracks and smile. Life was beautiful with Deacon, and I was so fortunate I was to call him my son.
In 2016, I was looking at daycares, and I found one that was recommended by many people. It had great reviews and the workers seemed great, so I thought Deacon was in good care. On the morning of October 5, 2016, I woke Deacon up and gave him his usual breakfast: eggs, toast and cut up tomatoes.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
