Dear Moms

Being a mom is the best, most rewarding job I have ever had. Seeing their sweet faces is the reason I get up every morning.  However, it is also the hardest, most challenging job I have ever had. As moms we tend to carry all of our family’s baggage on our shoulders and that thing called a personal bubble no longer exists.

No two moms are the same, we all make different choices, we all have different beliefs, values and upbringings, we all have different conception and birth stories and we all have different children yet we are all measured with the same stick. We are expected to push through and be the best mom ever through good days and bad, through tantrums and giggles, through pain and anguish and through sickness and in health. But it doesn’t have to be this way y’all. You are allowed to take a break, you are allowed to have a bad day, you are allowed to still be the best version of you as an individual and you are allowed to do whatever you think necessary to get there. 

Society puts all this pressure on us and creates this unrelenting tornado of mom guilt but we do not have to subscribe to that way of thinking, we do not have to contribute to it and we most certainly do not have to pass judgment on our fellow mamas. So the next time you see a mom who is not having the best day, or her kid is throwing a massive fit in the store rather that hitting her with the side eye give her a smile, or a nod, or tell her she’s doing a freaking amazing job, let her know she’s not alone. 

It truly takes a village to raise children and it is a-okay to call on that village and give yourself a break. Whether that be a date night, a manicure, an early bed time or a shower...alone do not hesitate to ask. And not just on the one day a year the world celebrates moms, any day that ends in y. Always remember you are not alone, you are not crazy, you are loved you are important and that “Successful Mothers are not the ones that have never struggled, they are the ones that never give up, despite the struggle” - Sharon Jaynes

As I step down off of my soap box I want to wish the happiest of Mother’s Day to all of the Moms in the world. Especially my Mama who taught me how to raise a good human, my mother-in-law who will teach me how to raise a great man, and my Nana Banana who will forever be the angel in my sweet boys’ pockets. 

To Jack & Rory, thank you for choosing me to be your mom the two of you are the best thing I have ever done and I love you tremendously. 

Photo Credit: The marvelous Alex Kelly