Motherhood is hard. Or as my momma says, ‘it’s the hardest job you’ll ever love.’

And isn’t that the truth?

Some days you yell and you argue and you spend all your time at odds over sassy mouths and untied shoes.

Other days you play and dance and laugh until you can’t catch your breath.

Motherhood is confusing like that.

On the hardest of days there’s guilt. Shame, even. It likes to sneak in and set up camp on those days, filling your mind with questions you can’t answer.

Why can’t I keep cool?

Why don’t I have more patience?

Will they forgive me?

Am I doing any of this right at all?

You can.

You do.

They will.

You are.

It’s hard to see in the haze of a particularly spent day, when all you really want to do is crawl into their beds and apologize one more time for not being the mom you hoped you’d be.

But hear me on this: you are a good mother.

You’re also human, and you deserve some grace.

So, pour a glass of wine. Eat some cookie dough. Open up your Bible. Get in a good workout. Blast some feel good music.

Do whatever you have to do to get through those moments, and then pick yourself back up and move on.

Just don’t get stuck there, because there are so many of those laugh until you can’t catch your breath days ahead.

And that, mama, is what they’ll remember anyway.

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