Mom of the Year honored for patience, selflessness (source: Lancaster Eagle Gazette)

Friends and family members of Jennie Arter never see her take pity on herself. Instead, she takes pride in her accomplishments, her job and — most importantly — her family. The Lancaster mom’s positive outlook on life put her above the rest in this year’s Fairfield County Mom of the Year contest, which takes place each year at the Fairfield County Fair. Arter has spent much of her time caring for her 14-year-old daughter, Bethie, a student at Forest Rose School, which provides an education to those with multiple handicaps. It is run through the Fairfield County Board of Developmental Disabilities. Click here to read full story.

A chance to help out new moms (source: Gazette Times)

“I had panic attacks … eventually I had suicidal thoughts,” Csilla Andor said, recalling the weeks and months after giving birth to her son. “I had no idea what was going on with me. I just thought it was normal.” Andor, a licensed clinical social worker in southern California at the time, eventually self-diagnosed herself. She had never heard the term “postpartum depression” before dealing with it herself. It was 2003, just prior to the exposure brought to the condition by actress and model Brooke Shields and her highly publicized struggle with a crippling bout of what many brushed off as the “baby blues.” Andor’s son, now a healthy first-grader, had medical issues as an infant. Click here to read full story.

Mom raises funds for diabetes study (source: LivingstonDaily.com)

Carol Christopher is somewhat of a “supermom” in the eyes of her family and friends. The Hamburg Township woman is the mother of three children, two of whom have special needs. Her 5-year-old son, Jackson, has type 1 diabetes. He requires four shots each day and constant monitoring of his food and sugar intake. Her 4-year-old daughter, Mackenzie, has a neurological disorder called apraxia that hinders her speech and motor skills. Christopher has become an advocate for awareness and research of both conditions her children battle. “My entire focus is on helping these kids,” Christopher said. “I want to help them have a voice.” Click here to read full story.

New York Mom Fights Middle School That Banned Her Bike Rides With Son (source: Fox News)

A New York mother is fighting back against her school district after administrators and officials told her she and her son didn’t have the right to bike to school together — and that his safety, even beyond school walls, was out of her hands.  Janette Kaddo Marino said their 3-mile rides to and from school in Saratoga Springs have been met with stiff opposition from officials and even a state trooper who claimed it was unsafe — and illegal — for her 12-year-old son Adam to travel on his own pair of wheels. Undeterred, she and her seventh-grader have continued cruising to Maple Avenue Middle School this fall in defiance of a 15-year-old school regulation that effectively forces kids to take the bus or hitch a ride in a family car. Click here to read full story.