Congratulations, You’re Failing at Motherhood (Just Like the Rest of Us!)

Ah, Wednesday. The day where optimism fades and caffeine becomes less of a luxury and more of a medical necessity. By now, you’ve likely forgotten what day it is, reheated the same cup of coffee three times, and wondered if your kids would be better off raised by wolves. (Spoiler: Probably not. Wolves don’t do snack refills or bedtime cuddles.)

And if you’re anything like me, you’ve spent at least part of today convinced you’re failing at this whole motherhood thing.

So let me say this loud and clear: You are.

But so is everyone else.

See, the thing about motherhood is that it comes with a set of completely impossible expectations—most of which were probably invented by people who have never actually parented a toddler. Like meal planning. We tell ourselves this is the week we’ll do it right. We’ll prep balanced, wholesome meals! We’ll be the kind of moms who actually use their produce drawer for produce instead of a graveyard for questionable lettuce!

And yet, here we are—midweek, staring blankly into the fridge like it personally offended us, realizing we’ve served chicken nuggets three nights in a row and wondering if ketchup counts as a vegetable. (It does. I checked.)

Then there’s screen time. Oh, sweet, guilt-ridden screen time. We meant to limit it. We really did. “Only 30 minutes of educational content,” we told ourselves. But then Wednesday showed up like an uninvited houseguest, and suddenly, we’re three hours deep into YouTube, watching some guy build a mud mansion in the jungle. The kids are entertained. They’re quiet. Are they learning anything? Who knows. But at this point, we’re too tired to care.

And let’s not even get started on the house. I don’t know who decided that mothers are supposed to maintain a spotless home while also keeping small humans alive, but I’d like to have a word with them. We all start with good intentions—our Pinterest boards are full of “clutter-free home” inspiration. There are laundry piles that double as furniture, a mysterious sticky spot on the couch, and a rogue sock colony that has taken up permanent residence under the dining table. Cleaning it all would be an option, but let’s be honest—by Friday, it’ll look exactly the same. Why fight fate?

Oh, and let’s not forget the yelling. Remember when we swore we’d be patient, gentle parents? That we’d never be that mom screeching “PUT YOUR SHOES ON” for the fifteenth time before 8 a.m.? Yeah. That was cute. I tried whispering once, thinking maybe my kids would listen better if I spoke calmly. They did not. And so, here we are—volume permanently set to “frantic parrot.”

And just when we think we might be doing okay, some other mom posts about her six-year-old making homemade sourdough and reading The Iliad for fun, while my child just licked a shopping cart handle. Amazing. It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything’s fine.

But here’s the truth: No one has this figured out. Not the Pinterest moms. Not the homeschool veterans. Not even the ones whose kids eat quinoa without a bribe. We are all just winging it, loving our kids fiercely, and doing the best we can with what we have. And despite the mess, the chicken nuggets, and the excessive YouTube consumption, our kids are going to be okay.

Because at the end of the day, it’s not about perfection. It’s about love. It’s about showing up, again and again, even when we’re exhausted and our coffee is cold. It’s about the little moments—the bedtime giggles, the sticky hand in ours, the “I love you, Mom” that somehow makes every hard moment worth it.

So if you’re feeling like a failure today, congratulations! You’re doing just as well as the rest of us. Now, take a deep breath, reheat that coffee one more time, and remember: You are exactly the mom your kids need. And you are so much better at this than you think.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go investigate a suspicious silence that almost certainly involves permanent markers and my walls.

Sincerely,
Mom, Interrupted

Want to chat? I’m here over in the Village.. pretty much daily! m