This post originally appeared on our old blog Born to be a Bride.
Multitasking mamas, this one’s for you. And from you. I get it, I know. Our stories are different. Maybe you stay home with your kids and bear the pressure of cleaning, cooking, cuddling, homeworking, and so on without a moment’s reprieve. And with a heavy dose of guilt as your partner heads out daily to earn the funds. Maybe you wake up early and give quiet kisses before heading off to an office job you’re both proud and resentful of. Maybe you’re doing the “best” of both worlds by running your own business and taking care of your children. It doesn’t really matter what the details are. Multitasking mamas, this one’s for you.
Maybe you’re having one of those days where the to-do list is so long and exhausting, it makes you cringe. You’re juggling errands with debating fraudulent credit card charges or paying off real ones, all with a kid on your hip. You’re sneaking in a run or a crunch or a cookie and feeling like no matter what you do, your body and your needs head straight to the bottom of that list.
Sometimes it feels like your work goes unnoticed, at home and outside. You’re not just a mom or a colleague or a wife or a co-parent. You’re a rock and a warrior. A chef and a nurse. A doer and a delegator. A nap surface and a negotiator. What you do is important. Your hustle matters. The days can feel so long at times, and others way too short. The guilt is palpable when you look at your littles and long for a clear mind to truly, properly enjoy them in an uncomplicated way and with unrestricted time limits.
Maybe you set aside days or afternoons to focus solely on them. Maybe you work that crack-of-dawn circuit to churn out and freeze the week’s meals or get your Pilates class in. Maybe you look at your neighbor or friend and wonder how on earth she is baking a gluten-free orange sponge cake from scratch when she has a three-month-old. Because when your baby was three months old you were lucky to get in a shower or a hot cup of coffee. Maybe you still count yourself lucky to get in a shower or a hot cup of coffee.
Here’s the thing, girl. This mom life is no joke. It’s so full-on and blindingly awesome and sheerly exhausting that it has shifted the molecules of your being. You do not need to compare your hustle to the other mamas in your office or at the park. You do not need to feel guilty for craving twenty minutes of peace and a glass of wine. You do not need to add more things to that to-do list and cringe when you can’t check them all off with aplomb and have energy left to spare.
Maybe, for just one minute, of one day, in one week, you’ll set it all down. You’ll breathe into your abdomen and then out until every last bit of air has left your body. You’ll tell yourself, out loud, the words you already know to be true: “I’ve got this.”
Life is fleeting, despite how endless the days can feel. Your little ones are incredible, aside from when they make you want to pull your hair out against the wall and cry. If you’re a mama, you’re a multitasker. And you’re already doing your best. You’re not alone, even if it feels that way sometimes. And someone is noticing. I promise you, they are. They see you and they love you. Dirty hair, stained yoga pants, missed deadlines, and all. Give yourself a minute, mama. Even just the one. And remember that this, too, shall pass. And you don’t want to miss it.
