You Are Not Alone

To the mom who sits in the hospital room, waiting for test results and facing more questions than answers.  

You are not alone.

To the mom who drops her child off at day care for the first time, and then cries all the way to work that morning.  

You are not alone.

To the mom who is up all night with a sick baby with a double ear infection, and hasn't gotten more than 15 minutes of uninterrupted sleep.

You are not alone.

To the mom who is diligently checking every ingredient in every food label, in order to keep a potentially life-threatening substance out of her child's body and just keep her child safe.

You are not alone.

To the mom who is carrying her toddler, kicking and screaming and in full-blown temper tantrum mode, out of the grocery store, and who is leaving the groceries behind to be bought another day.

You are not alone.

To the mom who has experienced loss and grief, and feels like her own body has betrayed her after enduring a miscarriage.

You are not alone.

To the mom who is navigating the waters of parenting a child with special needs, loving that child beyond words and wanting nothing more than for the world to see that precious child for who he or she truly is, not simply as a 'label.'

You are not alone.

To the mom who thinks she is not a good mom, seeing only the good in others, but not in herself.

You are not alone.

To the mom who spends long days and nights with her baby, yet feels guilty for longing for adult conversation or for not wanting to change another diaper or clean up another spit up mess.

You are not alone.

To the mom whose child is struggling, socially, emotionally, academically, or physically, and feels at a loss for what to do next or how to help.

You are not alone.

To the mom who is trying to find herself, and figure out who she is, beyond just the title of "Mom."

You are not alone.  

To the mom wondering if she is "enough," who feels like she is constantly trying to keep up and balance it all.

You are not alone.

If you read even one of these sentences, and felt connected to it in some way, you can believe there are other Moms out there who connected with it, too.

You are not alone.  You are not alone.  You are not alone.

Being a mom is one of the best, hardest, most rewarding, most exhausting jobs on the planet.  It provides some of the highest highs we will ever feel, but also some of the lowest lows. 

Sometimes, being a mom can feel like an isolating experience.  

Sometimes, we feel pressure to be everything to everyone, every time; to fulfill some fictional "Super Mom" role that only exists on TV shows and in the expectations we build up in our minds.  

Sometimes, we don't talk about the real life stuff that is going on day in and day out, for fear that we may be the only one struggling with these things.

Sometimes, we convince ourselves that we are the only one to have ever experienced what we are experiencing.  

You are not alone.

As moms, we are so much stronger as a community.  

When we reach out to one another in a real way and share our journeys and experiences in a real way, both the highs and the lows, we create that community.  

Real life is so much more than Facebook posts and Pinterest projects and Instagram pictures of seemingly "perfect" kids and moms.  Real life is hard.  It is worth it, but it is hard.  It is worth talking about honestly.  It is worth building each other up and supporting one another, not comparing ourselves to one another.  

During the hardest times I've faced as a mom, when I've been brave enough to share my feelings or concerns or worries, what I hear in response is most often "Me, too..." or "When that happened to my daughter..." or "I know what you mean..." or "I felt like that when..."  

To hear those words provides an incredible feeling of relief.    

The relief does not depend on if the issue I'm facing can be solved or not in that conversation. 

The relief comes simply from knowing I am not alone; knowing simply that someone else has been there, too.  

You are not alone.

If you are feeling alone, reach out to someone who will listen, someone who will support, someone who will understand.  Find a friend, another Mom, a family member, or even just leave a comment here.  You may be surprised to find someone who has been down that road ahead of you, or is traveling it with you right now.   

Maybe you are able to be the voice that simply says "Me, too."  May you give that precious gift to others if ever given the chance.

You are not alone.

Please never, never forget that you are not alone.  There are so many moms who have walked where you have walked, sat where you have sat, cried where you have cried.  Share your story, share your journey.  

At the moment you feel at your lowest point, like you're hanging on by a thread, like you are the only one, remember you are not alone, and never, never forget, You're a Good Mom. 

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