There’s a moment — maybe it’s while you’re scraping peanut butter off the wall, or folding laundry at 11:47 PM — when you pause and wonder if this is really what motherhood is supposed to feel like. The toys are everywhere, the coffee’s cold (again), and your toddler has decided pants are optional for the third time this week.
And in that moment, it’s easy to feel buried.
Motherhood is beautiful, yes, but it’s also messy, chaotic, and sometimes incredibly lonely. No one tells you just how many meals you’ll cook that go uneaten, how many times you’ll be interrupted mid-sentence, or how hard it is to remember who you were before “Mom” became your first name.
But then — just as quickly — something shifts.
Your child says “I love you” without being prompted. They finally sleep through the night. You catch them helping their sibling without being asked. Suddenly, you’re standing in the kitchen crying over a tiny backpack because tomorrow is the first day of kindergarten.
It’s such a strange paradox: the days are exhausting, the years evaporate.
And so, we learn to live in the in-between. We try to breathe through the tantrums, laugh through the chaos, and cling to those fleeting moments that remind us this season won’t last forever. One day, the house will be quiet, and we’ll miss the sound of little feet running down the hallway at 6 AM.
Sometimes, the only thing that keeps it all in perspective is looking back at how far we’ve come. A simple photo collage on the fridge can bring tears — seeing the gap-toothed grins, first steps, holiday jammies, and sleepy cuddles frozen in time. Each image a reminder: it’s all going by so fast, even when the days feel impossibly long.
If you’re in the thick of it right now, hang in there. You’re doing better than you think. Whether you’re working full-time, staying home, doing it all solo, or somewhere in between — your love shows up in every bedtime story, every school pickup, every peanut butter and jelly sandwich cut just the right way.
So tonight, after the dishes are done and the house is still, take a second to sit with yourself. Breathe. You are raising tiny humans with big hearts. And even when you feel like you’re falling short — you’re showing up.
And that matters more than you know.
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