Have you ever walked into a room, to an event, or a meeting, where you immediately felt out of place? As if you had come into a foreign space where you were not worthy, or just didn’t belong among the other mothers in the room?

Maybe you were not dressed the part. Your hair may have fallen in messy strands around your face, or you may not have taken the time to put on a full face of makeup as the other women in the room had. Maybe your clothing choice of the day was just not quite as put together as that of the other women in the room.

Perhaps your kids came along with the evidence of dinner still crusted around their smiling lips. Or wearing the too-small pants you swore you would take out of the laundry as soon as they were dry. Maybe you arrived simply celebrating that your child came wearing pants at all, only to realize the other children in the room were not only dressed but had appropriately coordinating outfits.

Those moments are when we panic about not belonging when instead, we should find empowerment in parenting from a place of imperfection. It is in those moments that we show others that it is safe.

That it is safe to show up as ourselves. To take up space with the messy reality that motherhood sometimes brings and feel comfort in overcoming our own mom guilt around this same reality.

That it is safe to show up with happy, healthy, clothed children. Children who are endlessly loved and cared for even though their priority is rarely matching socks or neatly combed hair. Who are so obviously loved even though every detail of their presentation is not pristine.

That it is safe to show up happy in motherhood imperfection instead of the Pinterest-perfect version of parenting we have all become accustomed to. The one where everyone isn’t always on time, perfectly groomed, and the most well-behaved in their moments of boredom or stress.

Because you see, momma, you never know who is watching you. Is it that new mom in the corner who mustered up every bit of energy to ensure she and her baby arrived looking presentable? Who wore the last clean, matching outfit to her name and combed all of the spit-up out of her hair in the parking lot?

Maybe it is the mom in the front row tirelessly trying to wrangle two spirited toddlers into seats for the fifth time since story hour started. Whose cheeks have blushed red with embarrassment because she cannot convince them that they should be still for one more minute as they disrupt those around them,

Or perhaps it is the mother in the very back whose teen screamed loudly how much she hated her before she left because she lost her phone privileges. The one questioning if there is anything she is doing right these days.

To these women, you, momma, are a beacon of hope. Hope that the shortcomings they are experiencing at the moment are more acceptable than they feel. Hope that one day, they will have the same confidence as you to walk into the room with their head held high even when they do not present as the epitome of motherhood perfection. Hope that one day, the pressure of judgment from others will not push them to the point of exhaustion in trying to appear that they have it all together.

Find the empowerment in those moments where you show up imperfectly perfect in motherhood momma. You never know who needs to see you doing so to find their way.