Last night, as I looked at the time glowing back at me, as if haunting me in a way, I realized it was way past bedtime. Like triple past bedtime. I was laying in bed watching Doc McStuffins, again, trying to get the baby to sleep.

I was tired. Beyond tired. Frustrated. Annoyed. Just begging for the day to be done.

I texted a friend, a fellow mama, to express my frustration, because we mamas are allowed to complain you know, and not only did she respond right away and validate my feelings, she told me she was doing the exact same thing.

Baby awake, pulling at her hair (why must they do that?!). Except they were watching Frozen. Again.

We chatted about our days and I found myself not so frustrated anymore. And then I thought more about the day as a whole.

Earlier, I sorted through a box of hand-me-down clothes with my oldest daughter and I wondered at her amazement as she pulled out each item. We chatted about the older little girl who passed on her clothes to us and how nice it was of her and her mommy for dropping them off to us.

And shortly after waking in the morning, I chatted with another friend about ways to keep cool in this heat and thoughts on the upcoming school year. We live in different states, different time zones even, but we were struggling with the same decisions.

Because you see, mama, you aren’t alone. And though we may all have our unique faults and struggles, many of them are shared by other mamas.

And the best way to work your way through them, is to find your mama-tribe. We are in this, all of this, together.

Share your joys. Share your milestones. And most importantly, share your challenges. Share those late night wakings, those messes in the kitchen and those chores left undone.

Because when you do, I can guarantee you aren’t alone.

So the next time you find yourself awake too late watching that episode of Doc McStuffins, again, know that there are other mamas doing the exact same thing.

And us mamas have to stick together.