As rewarding as parenting is, it can also be frustrating and full of self-doubt. To help quell the worries that most parents encounter at one point or another, Constance Hall, an Australian mom and blogger, shared some wisdom on her Facebook page on Sunday.
Hall wrote that, a few weeks ago, a friend of hers told her that she was "such a good mum."
"Feeling like a total fraud," Hall wrote, "I blurted, 'I don't feel like a good mum. The kids are driving me so crazy, I'm losing my temper and falling asleep at night wondering where I'm going got [sic] get the patients [sic] for another day.'"
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Her friend's response, however, floored her.
"Babies cry, it's how they communicate. Toddlers scream, children whinge, and teenagers complain," she recalled her friend saying. "But guess what Con? It's better then [sic] silence."
"It's the silent children, the scared toddlers, the teenagers that don't come home and the parents who aren't in communication with their children that I worry about," her friend, who works as a child therapist, continued. "And kids don't drive you crazy, you were crazy already. That's why you had them."
It's a simple reminder, but one that really hit home for Hall: "And just like that, I felt like a good parent again," she wrote. "Deep breaths, you're doing a good job." Judging by the fact that Hall's post has already been shared over 118,000 times at the time of writing, it looks like her friend's message resonated with plenty of other people, too.
"My son and I have been butting heads the last couple of days," one Facebook user commented. "I did not sleep last night and spent the whole of today wondering what I am doing wrong. This post could not have come at a better time, thanks I really needed this."
"I needed this, and all the lovely comments from all the other moms feeling like they are doing a craptastic job," another wrote. "Thank you all from the bottom of my exhausted heart!!"
Hall's note of reassurance may seem like a small gesture. But as commenters have noted, sometimes you need to be reminded that you're doing fine and it'll all be okay — even if it doesn't always feel like that.
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Welcome to Mothership: Parenting stories you actually want to read, whether you're thinking about or passing on kids, from egg-freezing to taking home baby and beyond. Because motherhood is a big if — not when — and it's time we talked about it that way.
Read these stories next: