Motherhood, But Make It Honest

I love being a mom. Let’s just start there before anyone gets it twisted.

My girls are my world. They’re the reason I’ve held it together on days I had no business functioning. They’re the reason I’ve gotten out of bed when my brain said “absolutely not today.”

But motherhood?

It’s not soft lighting and matching outfits. It’s loud. It’s messy. It’s beautiful and exhausting in the same breath. It’s making dinner… just for them to eat three bites and disappear. It’s doing everything for everyone and then sitting down like, “wait… did I eat today?” It’s being needed constantly but somehow still feeling alone sometimes.

And no one really prepares you for how much of yourself you lose in it.

Not in a sad way… just in a where did I go? kind of way.

Because somewhere between school drop-offs, late night talks, attitude (ohhh the attitude), and trying to keep them safe in a world that feels insane… you forget what it’s like to just be you.

And then one day… you start finding pieces of yourself again. In the quiet. In the gym. In writing. In blasting music in the car like you’re 22 and your only problem is gas money.

Motherhood changed me.

Not into someone perfect… but into someone stronger than I ever planned to be. It taught me patience I didn’t know I had. And also showed me exactly where I don’t have any. It forced me to grow… even when I didn’t want to.

Especially when I didn’t want to.

And here’s the part I’ll say out loud: You can love your kids more than anything… and still need space. still feel overwhelmed. still want a moment where no one is touching you, asking you for something, or yelling “mom” from another room. That doesn’t make you a bad mom. That makes you a human one.

I don’t have this all figured out. Half the time I’m winging it and hoping they don’t need therapy specifically because of me later

But I do know this— They don’t need perfect.

They need real.

And real looks like showing up, even when you’re tired.

Trying again, even after you lose your patience.

Loving them through every version of who they are becoming… while slowly remembering who you are too. Motherhood isn’t losing yourself forever.

It’s losing yourself… and then rebuilding someone even stronger in the process.

~Tj🩷