She sometimes has to raise her voice.

Before I became a mother, I always thought that moms just had loud voices. Or worse, that they yelled all the time and were miserable.

But now that I am a mom, I get it.

Us moms have to speak up in order for our voices to be heard . . .

Because there’s a baby who is screaming and a toddler who is in the middle of a full-blown, kicking and screaming tantrum and she’s trying to calm everyone down.

Because her son is riding his bike in the street and he’s not watching where he’s going and she has to raise her voice to get his attention.

Because her kids are venturing too far away from her eyesight and she needs them to come back to her.

Because her daughter is about to eat a crayon or her son is playing with an electrical socket.

Because the kids are playing and laughing while the T.V. is on and she’s trying to tell her husband all about her day. She’s waited all day for an adult interaction and she just wants to be heard.

Because her kids are fighting and picking on each other. They have been for hours and she’s gotta lay down the law and show them that she means business.

It may seem like she’s miserable, at first. But if you look closer, she’s a mom looking after her children. She’s either trying to get their attention or she’s trying to teach them a lesson. She’s either mediating between fighting kids or she’s trying to protect her children from hurting themselves.

Or sometimes, she’s trying to be heard among the chaos of it all and just wants to be seen.

She may sound like she’s got a loud voice or like she yells all of the time, but she’s really not unhappy. She’s just trying to do her best to be all that her kids need.

Sometimes a mama has to raise her voice in order to be heard . . .

She’s a mama trying to do her best to take care of her kids.

Because that’s her job.

(This post originally appeared on Her Strength & Dignity.)