Cat and Nat's Mom Truths: Embarrassing Stories and Brutally Honest Advice on the Extremely Real Struggle of Motherhood

by Catherine Belknap

So let’s be nicer to ourselves. Let’s go easier on ourselves when we screw up. Let’s dig deep, stop the hamster wheel of guilty feelings, and climb the heck off—once and for all!

Sometimes you forget the birthday of the cutest two-year-old boy in the world. Sometimes you say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Sometimes you botch a day so bad that the goal becomes getting to bedtime by any means necessary.

It’s okay to have a bad day and go to bed thinking, “I’m glad that’s over.” It’s okay to have a dull day that will never be remembered in a scrapbook. It doesn’t diminish how much you love your kids, or how much you cherish being a mom.

No matter what I do, I’m doing the right thing and the wrong

I guess what I’m trying to say is: There is no right way to be a mother. There is only your way. The bad news: You have to figure that out on your own. The good news: You will figure that out on your own.

The details of daily life will fade. Whole years will be reduced to just a handful of memories. But kids will never forget how much, and how hard, you loved them. Sometimes your situation isn’t ideal. Sometimes you can’t afford a lot. Sometimes you open the oven and out pops a mouse. It doesn’t matter. So long as your kids are loved, they have everything they need.

At school, they learn facts. At home, they learn how to be the people they will one day become.

You’ll never be able to please everyone. You’ll never be able to get it right all the time. So trust your gut and focus on the things you care about most. And help other moms trust their guts by being kind.

There is nothing “average” about the average mom.

It’s okay to be the mom you are. In fact, it’s better than okay. It’s perfect.

If you love your kids, you’re mom enough.