I’m a stay-at-home-mom.

But I haven’t always been. You see, I’m a nurse and used to work in a busy operating room. I would pull twelve hour shifts, barely catch a lunch break, and swore that no other job could possibly be harder. Until I had kids. Now, a twelve hour shift without a diaper change seems like a mini-vacation. And as grateful as I am to be a SAHM and witness their progress from day to day, I’m exhausted. Which makes me wonder, do other moms feel this way, too?

Are they also walking the fine line between FML and #blessed?

The longer I’ve been at this Mom Game, the more I realize it’s only natural. Of course, you love them. So much so that it seems impossible you haven’t eaten them yet. But there are also times when your toddler is screaming, your infant is refusing to nap, and all you want to do is clock-out. But here we are, working a twenty-four hour shift on five hours sleep praying that we don’t run out of coffee. Or wine.

Especially wine.

And even though we all might feel like this at some point, we are shamed for saying it out loud. For speaking our truth. For admitting that sometimes, we aren’t OK.

Yes, we are lucky to have had children. But just because we are moms now and our job is our children doesn’t mean we aren’t allowed to feel overwhelmed. It doesn’t mean we can’t complain about our mini-employers from time to time. After all, it’s a job.

The most important one we’ll ever do.

So, Momma. What you’re feeling is normal. All that love, all that sleep deprivation, all that anger you feel when the house is a mess even though you’ve been cleaning all day is normal. And right when you think you’re alone in this, just remember— you’re not. Because at some point or another we are all walking that same fine line.

And wondering why the hell we don’t get paid.

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