“Your mommy, she’s a superhero,” a stranger said, smiling at my kids on our walk, his intent being a compliment.

“No, I’m so not! I’m very much human and feel it,” I laughed it off loud enough for my kids to hear.

Because yes, I'm strong and capable like a superhero, but I'm also exhausted, struggle at times, and feel underappreciated.

Superheroes have superpowers that they use with little effort. Superman lifts large vehicles like, no big deal. But a mother’s superpowers take so much effort, time, and she feels it after.

So, I like my kids to know,

sometimes mommy can’t hold it all.

When mommy is walking to the car with a diaper bag stuffed to the brim, a baby in tow, two iPads, and three sweatshirts, sometimes she drops some things.

An iPad, she asks her eldest to pick up.

A sweatshirt, she has to go back and grab

A pacifier that falls out of the baby’s mouth.

And that goes with holding her emotions.

Sometimes her eyes well with tears, and her lips quiver until she can’t hold her tears back. She lets them flow down her face because she needs to let them out.

And sometimes, she loses her cool and screams at her kids for not listening.

And she needs a moment to herself.

Because she doesn’t wear a cape, and when she performs a high-stakes juggling act, sometimes things fall.

So some days, she’ll be burnt to a crisp and dropping things all over the place.

And those days show her children they don’t have to hold it all, too:

they can let tasks and emotions fall, and it will be okay.

Because like mommy, they’re human.

So join me in burning the cape society likes to reward us with by reminding well-meaning strangers, friends, and family how very human we are.

This post originally appeared on the author's Facebook. Her book "Living FULL: Winning My Battle with Eating Disorder" is available on Amazon: https://amzn.to/2O4mJId