MON SIX

Eight people are deadafter severe storms and tornadoes ripped through Oklahoma and Michigan.

From Thursday, March 5, to Friday, March 6, the storms ripped through the states, killing eight, including a mother and daughter in Oklahoma, according toUSA TODAY's previous reporting.

On Monday, March 9, theNational Weather Service(NWS) announced another severe thunderstorm warning was placed on Atoka, Oklahoma, Coleman, Oklahoma, and Lane, Oklahoma, until 7:15 a.m. local time, while parts of the state also face0.5 inches of hail and 30 mph winds.

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In Michigan, severe weather is possible at night on Tuesday, March 10, according to theNWS.

See damage left behind in the states after last week's storms.

See photos of aftermath left behind by severe weather, tornadoes in Oklahoma, Michigan

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Tornadoes leave destruction in Michigan, Oklahoma. See photos.

WASHINGTON (AP) — As Congress responds toPresident Donald Trump'sattack onIran, lawmakers who served on the front lines of Iraq and Afghanistan are making their voices heard in a war debate that has taken on intensely personal meaning.

US Iran Congress

Many admit mixed feelings, taking satisfaction in seeing vengeance taken onthe leadership of an Iranian regimethat has targeted U.S. service members for decades, yet fearful that another generation of soldiers could soon face the same combat experiences that they did.

"Do I take gratification? You know there's the Marine side of me: Yeah, of course," said Arizona Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego, whose company suffered some of the heaviest losses on the U.S. side during the Iraq War. "I know they killed a lot of American soldiers, American Marines. But do I also understand that I have a responsibility not to let my lust for revenge drive my country into another war?"

Experiences in the post 9/11 wars are also coloring the decisions of the Trump administration, given that top officials, including Vice President JD Vance and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, were once deployed to Iraq.

Gallego, like others on Capitol Hill, leaned heavily on his firsthand experience of fighting in the wars afterthe Sept. 11, 2001, attacksas he assessed the Iran conflict. Lawmakers wore bracelets etched with the names of friends killed in battle, told stories of coming under attack from Iran-backed militant groups and reflected on their own life-changing injuries suffered during combat.

Veteran lawmakers are wary of war

While the initial votes on Iran saw Congressdivide mostly along party lines, with Republicans backing Trump's actions and Democrats warning of an extended conflict, veterans in both parties share deep reservations about entering the conflict.

"As somebody who knows a lot of friends that didn't come home and a lot of Gold Star families, that's why the week before the attack, I was actually one of the ones that was talking about caution and why we needed to avoid at all costs getting into another long, drawn-out Middle Eastern war," said Republican Rep. Eli Crane of Arizona, a former Navy SEAL who left college to enlist the week after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Crane said his concerns were partially assuaged bybriefings from the Trump administrationthat indicated to him the president is not planning a drawn-out war. He voted againsta war powers resolutionthat would have halted attacks on Iran unless Trump got congressional approval.

But Crane said wars are never straightforward. "I've been on military operations that did not go to plan many times, and so I understand the nature," he said, adding that he was calling for the Trump administration to approach the conflict with "humility and caution."

Gallego and other Democrats worried that it was too late for that approach. They paid tribute to the six U.S. military members who were killed in a drone strike in Kuwait and worried that there could soon be more American casualties.

"War is dirty, and mistakes happen," Gallego said. The longer the conflict drags on, he added, the more chance there will be for U.S. military members to be killed. He said he saw that in Iraq when friends would be killed by seemingly random shots from enemy combatants.

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Still, many Republicans argued that it was necessary to attack Iran to stop a regime that for decades has helped train and arm militant groups throughout the Middle East. Republican Rep. Brian Mast, who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, led the debate on the House floor against the war powers resolution.

Mast, who served as an Army bomb disposal expert, now uses prosthetic legs after receiving catastrophic injuries from an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan. "Me especially, many of my other colleagues, no one wants to see our military go into combat or war," he said.

Then he added, "But Iran's terror, which has caused the deaths of thousands of Americans, it has to stop."

Trying to push soldiers to forefront of war debate

Important questions loomfor Congress as the conflict with Iran unfolds and spreads to other parts of the Middle East. The price for the operation is already likely running into the billions of dollars, likely forcing the Trump administration to soon seek billions in funding from Congress. The outbreak of war has also scrambled global alliances and the future of U.S. foreign policy.

Shadowing it all is the potential of another drawn-out conflict. Lawmakers said they owe it to their fallen comrades to ensure that doesn't happen.

"To me, it's to speak out. It's to say another generation should not go fight in an open-ended, ill-conceived regime change war in the Middle East," said Democratic Rep. Pat Ryan, his hand moving to a bracelet etched with the names of friends who were killed during his two Army combat tours in Iraq.

Others remembered how frustrated they became with Washington during their service, especially as soldiers tried to fight with insufficiently armored vehicles and not enough troops.

"I know what it was like to be on the very end of the receiving line of the decisions made in Washington," said Democratic Rep. Jason Crow, who entered the Army as a private before being promoted to a captain and deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Crow said that front-line soldiers often suffered "because people stopped asking tough questions. People stopped being held accountable. Congress stopped voting on it."

Another veteran, Democratic Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois, said that was one of the reasons she sought a congressional seat in the first place. As a Blackhawk helicopter pilot with the Illinois National Guard, Duckworth lost her legs when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade in Iraq.

"I ran for Congress so that when the drums of war started beating once again, I'd be in a position to make sure that our elected officials fully considered the true cost of the war," she said. "Not just in dollars and cents but in human lives."

Fox News apologized for airing old video of a hatless President Donald Trump during coverage Sunday of his attendance at thedignified transferceremony for U.S. soldiers killed in the Middle East war, insisting it was an honest mistake.

In a polarized time, some online critics suggested without evidence that it wasn't an error — that the network was trying to make Trump look better by not showing him wearing a baseball cap during what is considered one of the most solemn duties of a commander in chief. The return of the bodies of six soldiers took place Saturday at Dover Air Force Base.

But Fox News said archival footage of Trump at an earlier ceremony was inadvertently pulled up by a staff member and used on two Sunday morning telecasts. A spokeswoman noted the correct footage was used at other times, including on Saturday.

"We regret the error and apologize for the incorrect footage," Fox said in a statement.

Fox News anchor Griff Jenkins issued an on-the-air correction Sunday, saying "we extend our respect and condolences" to the families of the service members killed.

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The apology didn't sit well with some critics. "If any other network did this it would be a huge scandal, Fox would lead the chorus of criticisms and faux-outrage, and people would lose their jobs," saidMehdi Hasan, founder of the online site Zeteo.

Johnny "Joey" Jones, a veteran and co-host of "The Big Weekend Show" on Fox News Channel, said on social media that he was "embarrassed and ashamed" that this happened.

"My belief was that this was an honest mistake, but that doesn't make it an acceptable one," Jones wrote. "Few things are more sacred than our heroes who give their lives in the line of duty."

Jones said that "if posting snarky comments and insults is your way of reacting to this, please direct them at me. I'm the one with sharp words on these issues. If you are using this as a way to take a partisan jab at my hard working colleagues, check your watch."

David Bauder writes about the intersection of media and entertainment for the AP. Follow him athttp://x.com/dbauderandhttps://bsky.app/profile/dbauder.bsky.social.

NEW DELHI (AP) — The United States and Iran have offered sharply different accounts of thesinking of an Iranian warshipin the Indian Ocean last week, with Washington rejecting Tehran's claim the vessel was unarmed and Iranian officials insisting it was operating in a noncombat role.

India Iran US Israel

The United States Indo-Pacific Command on Sunday rejected Iran's claim that the warship IRIS Dena was unarmed when it was sunk in a submarine attack in international waters off Sri Lanka on March 4. In a statement on X, INDOPACOM called Iran's assertion that the vessel was unarmed "false."

The response followed strong objections from Tehran, which has repeatedly characterized the warship as defenseless, saying it was returning homeafter taking part in a naval exercise.

An Indian navy official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said the Iranian vessel was not "entirely unarmed" and had taken part in drills alongside other countries' warships.

Some experts have, however, suggested that visiting ships at such events typically do not carry a full combat load of live munitions unless scheduled for live-fire drills. They say even during the sea phase of exercises, ships generally carry only tightly-controlled ammunition limited to specific drills.

Rahul Bedi, an independent defense analyst based in India, said the vessel may have used some limited non-offensive ammunition during the naval exercises, but protocol requires "the participating platforms to be unarmed."

"The precondition of participating in such a parade, or such a ceremony, is that it (the vessel) comes unarmed. That is the precondition of the Indian Navy and it's a precondition of most navies when they hold such similar sort of fleet reviews," Bedi said.

Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh said Friday that the warship, sunk by a U.S. torpedo, had not been carrying weapons and accused Washington of targeting a ceremonial vessel.

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"That vessel was by invitation of our Indian friends, attending an international exercise. It was ceremonial. It was unloaded. It was unarmed," he told reporters in New Delhi.

The IRIS Dena was sunk on March 4 in the Indian Ocean near Sri Lanka after being struck by a torpedo fired from a U.S. submarine, according to American and Iranian officials. The Sri Lankan navy rescued 32 sailors andrecovered 87 bodies.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described the IRIS Dena as a "prize ship" and said it "died a quiet death." Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi described the attack as "an atrocity at sea" and stressed that it had been "a guest of India's Navy."

Disputes over whether the vessel was armed have intensified tensions over the incident, which occurred as it was returning from multinational naval exercises in India, and raised questions about whether it was operating in a noncombat role when it was attacked.

India's defense ministry said in a statement after the exercises that "live firings as part of surface gun shoots, as well as anti-air firings, were also undertaken" by participating vessels.

The warship's sinking highlighted how theU.S.-Israeli war with Iranis spreading beyond the Middle East.

Two other Iranian vessels — the IRIS Bushehr and IRIS Lavan — aredocked in Sri Lankaand India after seeking assistance from the two countries.

Associated Press writer Aijaz Hussain in Srinagar, India, contributed to this report.

Akshay Bhatia found several sources of late-day momentum, which led to another victory on the PGA Tour.

Bhatia used a late-round eagle to help secure a 3-under-par 69 before winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational in a playoff Sunday in Orlando, Fla.

His par on the extra hole was enough when Daniel Berger missed a putt from about 7 1/2 feet.

They both were at 15-under 273 for the tournament at Bay Hill Club and Lodge.

"Everyone knows when you show up to Bay Hill it's going to be a test and to play one of the hardest golf courses," Bhatia said. "And to succeed is really cool."

Bhatia won for the third time on the PGA Tour with his first victory since the 2024 Texas Open. It was the tournament's first playoff since 1999.

Berger, seeking his fifth tour victory and first in more than five years, shot 70 in the final round.

"Obviously it didn't go the way I wanted it to," Berger said. "But at the start of the week if you told me I would have a chance on the 18th hole to win Bay Hill, I would be ecstatic with that. So a lot of positives, a lot of things to learn from."

There was plenty of drama on the last hole in regulation. With his tee shot into the rough on No. 18, Berger chose to lay up rather than try to carry the lake guarding the green. Bhatia put his second shot within 19 feet of the hole and then needed a tap-in for par. Berger sank a 13 1/2-foot putt, with the ball curling into the cup, to match Bhatia's par and extend the tournament.

"You just never know what can happen in this game," Bhatia said.

Berger was in the rough off the tee again on the playoff hole, and this time he couldn't make a full recovery.

"It's tough to win (a tournament)," Berger said. "It's tough to battle. But I feel like I did a good job, and a shot here or there was the difference."

Cameron Young (69) and Sweden's Ludvig Aberg (67) tied for third place at 12 under and Collin Morikawa (70), seeking his second victory in four weeks, was fifth at 11 under.

Hours earlier, Berger's lead dipped to one stroke on Bhatia after they were among a few groups completing the weather-interrupted third round Sunday morning. Bhatia posted birdie on No. 18 to finish the third round.

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Berger and Bhatia were in the final pairing for the second round in a row.

Bhatia drew even briefly with an eagle 3 -- courtesy of a 3-foot putt -- on the 16th hole. The approach shot came from what Bhatia called the best 6-iron shot of his life.

Berger, however, left the green with a one-stroke lead after making birdie. He relinquished the final-round lead with a bogey on the following hole.

Berger dodged early trouble when his tee shot on the par-5 fourth hole went into a shallow creek off the fairway. He took a risk by powering his second shot out of trouble with water spraying, and he managed to produce a birdie on the hole.

Bhatia got back in it with four consecutive birdies to begin the back nine after a three-bogey, one-birdie front side. He said a bogey on No. 9 led to a change of mindset.

"I played with some anger for those couple holes," he said.

His birdie splurge included a 58-foot birdie putt on No. 11.

"That putt on 11 was a huge bonus for me," he said. "That really switched my momentum."

Young liked being near the top of the leaderboard.

"I got myself in a place where I hit a bunch of good shots and sometimes the putts just don't go in," Young said.

Sahith Theegala had the final round's best score with 66, allowing him to share sixth place at 10 under with Russell Henley (68) and Australia's Min Woo Lee (70).

"This week was big," Theegala said. "I played some really, really nice golf. Just got to figure out how to get one of the really bad round."

World No. 1 golfer Scottie Scheffler's 73 marked his worst round of the tournament. He tied for 24th place at 2 under, yet he was far from discouraged.

"I hit a lot of really, really nice iron shots," Scheffler said. "Some worked out, others got some wind shifts, but overall, I felt like I struck it really nicely."

--Field Level Media

All four of the Power 4 Conference Women's Tournament champions from last season had a chance to defend their titles on Sunday.

Half got the job done asDukepushed past Louisville in overtime in the ACC and UCLA pummeled Iowa in the Big Ten. TCU fell to West Virginia in the Big 12 and South Carolina lost to Texas in a rematch of last season's SEC championship.

The Gamecocks' loss also likely knocks them down to the fourth No. 1 seed, having lost to the Longhorns ― who would move into the three after UConn and UCLA, respectively.

As winners of their conference tournaments, the Blue Devils, Bruins, Longhorns and Horned Frogs earn automatic bids into March Madness. While the runners-up in each Power 4 conference will also be shoo-ins, every other team will have to sweat it out on Selection Sunday on March 15 to see if they received at-large bid.

Here are the winners and losers from ACC, Big 12, Big Ten and SEC women's tournaments.

Winners

Texas coach Vic Schaefer

Vic Schaefer was 0-8 against Dawn Staley in the postseason entering this year's SEC Tournament. He put a tally in the win column on Sunday as his Longhorns led wire-to-wire in a double-digit win over the Gamecocks, giving Texas its first SEC Championship. The Texas victory will likely vault the Longhorns to the No. 3 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, giving them a good chance to play in their home state — at Fort Worth's Dickies Arena — in the regional round during the second weekend of March Madness. With SEC Tournament MVP Madison Booker leading the way, few teams will want to land in Texas' quadrant of the bracket. In addition to two wins over South Carolina, Texas also already owns a win over fellow national title contender UCLA.— Mitchell Northam

More:Texas supplants South Carolina for SEC women's basketball championship

Dukeshowsresilience

Duke winning back-to-back ACC Tournament championships and punching its ticket to the NCAA Tournament is a massive win for head coach Kara Lawson and the program. The Blue Devils were gritty when it counted most, despite losing two of their last three games prior to the tournament. They grinded out wins against Notre Dame and Louisville to hoist another ACC trophy. Duke also started the season 3-6, something Lawson says she'll probably think about for the rest of her life. "It's very special for this group to kind of complete the journey in the ACC because everyone knows about our start, Lawson said. "But I'm very proud of that. I'm proud of where we started, even though it was hard, and I'm proud of where we got to. And when you look at this team, we had to figure out who we were. We didn't know that at the beginning."— Meghan L. Hall

UCLA marches into tournament on hot streak

The one-loss Bruins will enter the tournament on a 25-game win streak after defeating Iowa, 96-45, in the Big Ten championship game. The No. 2 team in the nation went 21-0 in conference play, winning 20 of those games by double digits. The Bruins also have 18 Quad 1 wins this season. Led by its five upperclassmen starters (Gianna Kneepkens, Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice, Charlisse Leger-Walker and Lauren Betts), UCLA has been on a mission to return to the Final Four. Coach Cori Close's team will have momentum on its side and redemption on its mind after suffering a blowout loss to UConn in the semifinal last year.― Josh Heron

More:UCLA blows out Iowa in the Big Ten championship for back-to-back-titles

West Virginia securing NCAA Tournament hosting duties

West Virginia's first Big 12 championship since 2017 all but secures its place in the top 16, which earns them the right to host the first and second rounds of March Madness in Morgantown. The Mountaineers entered the Big 12 Tournament teetering around the top 16 seeds due to their lack of Quad 1 wins, but West Virginia didn't leave the decision up to the selection committee. The Mountaineers took their destiny into their own hands and picked up a huge Quad 1 win against TCU on Sunday. West Virginia hasn't hosted at the NCAA Tournament since 2014. The team is 14-3 at home this season.

"Hopefully this got us over the hump," WVU coach Mark Kellogg said. "I can only imagine… how electric Hope Coliseum would be if we were able to host some NCAA Tournament games. So come on NCAA, do what you're supposed to do and get that thing to Morgantown for us."— Cydney Henderson

Arizona State coming off the bubble

Arizona Statewas one of the teams with the most to gain at the Big 12 women's tournament. The Sun Devils entered the tournament on the bubble as one of the first four teams out, according to USA TODAY Sports' bracketology, but they likely did enough to go dancing for the first time since 2019. Arizona State secured wins over Arizona and Iowa State before falling short against West Virginia in the quarterfinal round. The Sun Devils improved to 24-10 on the season, the team's most wins since the 2015-16 season (26). No power 4 conference women's basketball team with 24 or more wins has been left out of March Madness. "Out of all the bubble teams, we've had the most good wins. We've won 24 games … half of those games, 12 of them are top 100 wins and we've won nine on the road. So we can win anywhere," first-year head coach Molly Miller said.— Cydney Henderson

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Clemson's NCAA Tournament hopes

Before the ACC tournament, Clemson was a bubble team. After beating Virginia in the second round of the ACC Tournament, the Tigers effectively punched their ticket to March Madness. "We kind of took this as our season is on the line. We felt like a win [against Virginia] would get us in the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens the rest of the way out, " Clemson head coach Shawn Poppie said after the Tigers defeated the Hokies in the second round of the ACC Tournament." That's how they focused and fought and competed. But ultimately that's just basketball. How you start and how you finish quarters."— Meghan L. Hall

Kansas State and Jordan Speiser

Call Kansas State women's basketball the comeback kids. Kansas State pulled out a comeback upset win against Oklahoma State in the quarterfinals on Friday to become the first No. 12 seed to advance to the semifinals in Big 12 Tournament history.

One day earlier, Kansas State went on a 21-0 run to defeat Texas Tech 58-51 in the second round on Thursday. The day before that, Kansas State set a new Big 12 Tournament record with 17 made 3-pointers against Cincinnati on Wednesday.

They couldn't muster another comeback against No. 1 TCU, but Kansas State put the league on notice and freshman guard Jordan Speiser emerged as a breakout star. Speiser was 16-of 33 from the 3-point line through four games at the tournament.

"This team has had a knack for the dramatic wins," head coach Jeff Mittie said on Friday. It feels great to be playing basketball in March."— Cydney Henderson

Duke guard Taina Mair

If anyone was unfamiliar with Taina Mair's game before the ACC Tournament, she just put the whole country on notice. Mair was the go-to player for Duke in crunch time, often settling the team down or providing a much-needed score. She also crashed the glass, despite being one of the smaller players on the court, and she was a pest defensively, totaling eight steals in the tournament. Mair was rewarded with ACC Tournament MVP honors. "Before this conference [tournament], I knew I'd play a big pivotal role if we wanted to get to this championship, we wanted to win," Mair told USA TODAY Sports. "I was in the gym, early in the morning and late at night, just trying to get shots up and trying to be the player that I can for everybody."— Meghan L. Hall

Losers

Vanderbilt and Mikayla Blakes

The Commodores entered the SEC Tournament with a chance to play their way into a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. It was also an opportunity for Mikayla Blakes to make her case for National Player of the Year. Vanderbilt did neither of those things as they were blown out in the quarterfinals by Ole Miss, a game in which Blakes opened by shooting 0-of-10 from the floor before recovering in the second half to finish with 24 points. The Commodores didn't play with any fire until SEC Coach of the Year Shea Ralph was ejected early in the fourth quarter after delivering a curse-word-laced message to a referee. Vanderbilt will be stuck on the two-line in March Madness now, and their path to a Final Four will likely have to go through UConn or UCLA.— Mitchell Northam

Iowa without one of its 'main' threats

Iowa missed Taylor McCabe in its 96-45 Big Ten championship loss to UCLA on Sunday. The senior guard was averaging 8.1 points per game before she tore ACL in her left knee in a late January matchup against Ohio State. McCabe's 40.7% career 3-point shooting average is tied for the best in program history. Iowa shot 22% from beyond the arc against the Bruins. After Sunday's defeat, Iowa coach Jan Jensen acknowledged the impact of not having McCabe. "[McCabe] was my main outside scoring threat," Jensen said. "Every play call was pretty much designed around her."― Josh Heron

Louisville in the ACC title game

For the 12th consecutive season under Jeff Walz, the Cardinals reached the quarterfinals or better in the ACC Tournament ― something no other conference team has achieved. The overtime loss to Duke, in what would have been the program's first championship since 2018, is going to sting for a while. The Cardinals controlled Sunday's game but could not sustain their defensive consistency in the final two minutes of regulation, when the Blue Devils made them pay. The Cardinals ran out of steam in overtime allowing Duke to dictate the game. Riley Nelson sank a dagger triple to put the Blue Devils up five in the final moments. The Cardinals defense all honed in on one side of the court, leaving Nelson alone to end their title hopes. That has to feel like a gut punch for a team that expected to win the ACC Tournament championship.— Meghan L. Hall

More:Duke holds off Louisville in overtime for ACC women's championship

TCU and its chance at a No. 2 seed

TCU failed to defend its Big 12 title against West Virginia and missed a prime opportunity to snag a No. 2 seed in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. TCU was held to 53 points in the title loss, the team's second-lowest point total of the season, and some glaring concerns emerged. Ball security is one. The Horned Frogs committed 16 and 11 turnovers in the semifinal and final, respectively. The 11 turnovers against West Virginia led to 15 points for the Mountaineers. The Horned Frogs were also hampered by foul trouble. Olivia Miles picked up three fouls in the first half and Marta Suarez fouled out with 1:30 left in the final. TCU needs both players on the court during March Madness.— Cydney Henderson

Michigan State and Maryland home hopes

The Spartans and Terrapins entered the weekend looking like they would be among the top 16 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and host the first two rounds of March Madness. Instead both teams were upset in the second round of the Big Ten tournament, with No. 13 Maryland losing to Oregon and No. 17 Michigan State to Illinois. The early exits left the door open for West Virginia, in the finals of the Big 12 Tournament, and North Carolina, to host.— Heather Burns

Iowa State and Audi Crooks

Iowa State got bounced in its Big 12 tournament opening matchup by Arizona State, a team the Cyclones soundly  defeated 90-64 just two weeks prior. Iowa State was held to 68 points in the loss, nearly 15 points below their average, and shot a dismal 7-of-36 from the 3-point line (19%), well below the team's 34.7% average. Arizona State's suffocating defense deserves credit. They held Audi Crooks to four first-quarter points and forced the Cyclones into 14 turnovers, which could serve as a playbook for the rest of the nation. Crooks said the Cyclones wanted to be monsters in March, but they looked toothless against the Sun Devils.— Cydney Henderson

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Winners and losers from women's college basketball conference tournaments

Los Angeles–based artist Amanda Oleander is already familiar to manyBored Pandareaders for her playful and deeply relatable lifestyleillustrations. Through simple lines and expressive gestures, her drawings capture the quiet emotional moments that often go unnoticed — from tenderness between partners to the vulnerability of everyday life.

While Oleander has long explored themes of love, relationships, and emotional honesty, a new chapter in her life has naturally found its way into her work. Becoming a mother opened a different emotional landscape for the artist, one filled with both wonder and chaos. In her recent illustrations, she turns her attention tomotherhood, portraying its intimate, messy, and deeply human moments with the same warmth and honesty that made her work resonate with millions.

More info:Instagram|amandaoleander.com

© Photo:Amanda Oleander

In an interview withBored Panda, Oleander shared that becoming a mom naturally shifted the stories she feels most drawn to tell, as her perspective evolved alongside this new role in her life.

"Before, my work often focused on romantic or self-reflective love, but motherhood introduced me to a new spectrum of vulnerability, joy, and frustrations, the little victories, the quiet moments of connection, and the raw, unfiltered reality of caring for another human. My stories now often explore this nuanced balance between tenderness and chaos."

© Photo:Amanda Oleander

© Photo:Amanda Oleander

Motherhood is often portrayed online through carefully curated, picture-perfect moments. However, Oleander's illustrations embrace both the beauty and the chaos of parenting. The artist explained that showing the more honest side of motherhood is important to her, especially in a world where there is immense pressure to present only the "perfect" version of it, while in reality, it is a mix of joy, exhaustion, worry, and wonder.

"I aim for my illustrations to reflect that complexity, the messy, chaotic, yet deeply meaningful moments. It's wonderful to connect with other parents that can see themselves in my work and feel less alone."

© Photo:Amanda Oleander

© Photo:Amanda Oleander

Oleander revealed that one of the most surprising things about motherhood was how much it changed her relationship with time and perspective. Small moments—such as sharing a laugh over a spilled drink or watching her son discover something new—suddenly felt monumental.

"These instances of heightened awareness, where ordinary experiences feel extraordinary, often become central in my art, as I try to capture both the intimacy and the fleeting nature of these moments."

© Photo:Amanda Oleander

© Photo:Amanda Oleander

Ultimately, Oleander's illustrations remind us that motherhood isn't just about the big milestones, but about the countless small moments that shape the journey. By capturing both the tenderness and the chaos of everyday life, the artist offers an honest glimpse into the emotional depth of parenting—one that many people can recognize, relate to, and feel comforted by.

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