Mom watches out for son in what can be ‘cruel world’

Sonya Stombaugh is registering her son, Brayden, for preschool this year.

“Believe it or not, I never wanted to have children. Honestly, I felt like the world was a little too cruel, and I didn’t really want to subject him to that. But I also hadn’t met the person that I wanted to have a kid with yet, either. I love my husband. And when I actually got married to him, I knew I wanted to have kids with him. That was the deciding factor. And my mom, of course. I got a little pressure from the grandparents. ‘Just one, Sonya. I just want one grandchild from you.’”

Now that your son is 4, how do you feel about the world?
“It’s pretty much the same place I thought it was. I’m a very leery person. I shouldn’t say non-trusting, because I do trust a little bit. But I really do have to trust before I let it go or let him go. I’ve seen a lot of things and dealt with a lot of things in my life. It can be cruel out there. But I also see that there’s kindness in the world. One of the reasons I think I’m feeling a little better about everything is because there is goodness. And while I try to see the best, I still have that little guarded feeling sometimes of, ‘I don’t know about this.’ I still think you need to have that.”

— Sonya Stombaugh