Sometimes Motherhood Will Break You

A Gift for Mom! 🤍

There will be times when you are barely hanging on—it may be a moment or a few days or even a few weeks.

It will feel like motherhood has broken you.

RELATED: I Hope I Loved You Enough Today

You won’t be the mother you want to be because not all of you is there.

You are doing more than you can handle and there is no reprieve.

Your empty is empty.

But you are their mother and there is no resting.

Someone gets sick, so there are sleepless nights, cranky kids, and non-stop cuddles.

RELATED: Moms Can’t Get Sick!

There is grocery shopping and cooking.

There is laundry, sometimes washing the bedding daily because of illness.

And you are giving and giving until nothing is left, so there is nothing left to give to parenting.

You are merely surviving, trying to make it until bedtime.

You’ve yelled more than you wanted to.

You are tired of saying sorry to your kids for not being more calm and patient.

After you buckle them in their car seats, you step back into the house before you get in the car just to have a moment of silence.

This is the hardest part of being their mom, and nobody knows it or sees it but you.

RELATED: This is Motherhood When Nobody is Watching

Then the sleep returns, everyone is healthy again, you get back into the routines, and you return to being the mother you are.

You are able to parent again, the way you want to and be the mother you are.

You are gentle and kind and loving.

You are silly and make them laugh.

You can breathe again.

You’ve washed your hair and are wearing clean clothes.

And the truth is, through it all, you were always the mother they needed.

So God Made a Grandmother book by Leslie Means

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Order Now!

Kelley embraces her motherhood journey through writing. She started writing when her son was born because he would sleep on her all the time and writing was quiet and didn't wake him but let her express all she was feeling. She is passionate about the sharing that happens from writing and reading the words of others. Kelley lives in Nevada with her husband, son, and dog Huey.

Motherhood Is a Thousand Goodbyes

In: Motherhood

As I prepare to leave for my “weaning moon,” my older daughter wants to help pick out my necklace. She chooses a tiny gold chain with three interlocking rings in the middle, two small and one large. It was gifted to me sometime during the hazy postpartum days by somebody I can’t remember, and to be honest, I’ve never really worn it. “Do you know what these rings are for?” I ask her. She shakes her head. “You, me, and your sister,” I tell her, pointing at each one. She looks into my eyes. “Will you wear it every day?”...

Keep Reading

Other Moms Seem to Make Summer Look Magical

In: Motherhood

Every year, somewhere around the middle of July, I become convinced I’ve forgotten how to parent. The novelty of summer has worn off. The pool has lost its magic. The snacks I bought on Monday are gone by Wednesday. My house somehow looks like a tornado came through before breakfast, and I swear I’ve answered, “Can I have a snack?” 17 times before 10 a.m. By this point, my patience is hanging on by a thread. And if I’m honest, that’s usually when the guilt starts whispering. Why are you so irritated? Why can’t you just enjoy this? Other moms...

Keep Reading

These Moms on the Sidelines Became My People

In: Motherhood

Moms with arms around each other watching baseball

Spending hours on end on a ballfield on Mother’s Day may not sound ideal to most, but the ones who get it know that it’s about so much more than watching young kids play ball. It’s about the instant bonds you make with families who end up becoming like your own family. It’s being surrounded by people who cheer for your kid louder than you do yourself. It’s about being lucky enough to have a pack of moms who will care for your child in your absence and send you pics and videos of what you are missing when you...

Keep Reading

I Wanted Experts to Fix My Child with ADHD. Instead, They Changed Me.

In: Motherhood

Little boy sitting at table talking to adult

I thought the experts were going to fix my child. I didn’t say that out loud. But it was there…quiet, desperate, sitting underneath every question I asked. If I just found the right strategy… If I just understood ADHD well enough… If I just listened hard enough… Maybe the meltdowns would stop. Maybe the chaos would settle. Maybe I would finally feel like I knew what I was doing. So I started asking questions. Over the past year, I’ve had the opportunity to interview ADHD experts (clinicians, researchers, specialists) through my podcast. And I showed up to every conversation like...

Keep Reading

Parenting a Child with a Disability Is Holy Ground

In: Motherhood

Some moments in motherhood stay with you. First steps. Preschool graduation. A first dance recital. And then there are harder times. The ones that do not make it into photo albums. The moments when the world feels too big and your child feels painfully misunderstood. When you are parenting a child with a disability, those moments tend to find you more often. This day should have felt like a win. My son had just met a goal in therapy. We walked out of his OT’s office smiling, carrying a page full of lopsided circles that had never looked more perfect...

Keep Reading

I Came Home With a Baby—and Lost Myself

In: Motherhood

I don’t think people truly believe me when I say I came back from the depths of hell after having my son. Birth is often portrayed as pure bliss. The moment a mother holds her baby and instantly falls in love. Life quickly returns to normal. Even in real life, new moms can look like they’ve settled into motherhood with ease. But what no one talks about is the ugly, incredibly hard side of it. Not every mom experiences postpartum depression, anxiety, or OCD. For some, it really is bliss. But for many of us, it becomes a fight for...

Keep Reading

He Doesn’t Always Need Me Anymore and I’m Not Sure How To Feel About It

In: Motherhood

Little boy playing with toys on the floor alone

There is a moment nobody warns you about. Not the sleepless nights. Not the feeding schedules. Not the endless cycle of laundry and worry that comes with keeping a tiny human alive. Those parts everyone mentions. The part nobody mentions is the moment you realize your child has started becoming his own person. And you are standing there watching it happen, equal parts proud and completely unprepared. My son is two years old. And lately he has been leaving the room. Not in a concerning way. In a he has somewhere to be kind of way. He will be in...

Keep Reading

We Keep Calling Her Confident, But She Doesn’t Trust Herself

In: Motherhood

I remember the exact moment it hit me. I was talking to a young girl, the kind everyone praises. She was polite, well spoken, respectful. The kind of girl people point to and say, “She’s so confident.” So I asked her a question I knew would reveal more than her smile ever could: “What do you do when something doesn’t feel right?” She froze. Not in a dramatic way, but in a quiet, almost invisible way. She looked down, shifted her weight, then looked back up at me, searching my face like the answer might be written there. Because she...

Keep Reading

I Knew Something Was Wrong, But No One Listened—And It Almost Cost Me My Daughter

In: Motherhood

After the traumatic birth of my daughter, I searched for others who had experienced vasa previa, but most of what I found were support groups for stillbirth. It’s easy to understand why; vasa previa is one of the most preventable causes of stillbirth, and yet most people, including most pregnant women, have never heard of it. My daughter is almost three years old, and I still carry a complicated guilt about that: why did we get to be the lucky ones? I want to share my story—not to frighten you, but because awareness is the only thing that saves lives...

Keep Reading

I Finally Admitted I Didn’t Want To Be a SAHM Anymore

In: Motherhood

For most of my life, I believed becoming a stay-at-home mom wasn’t just a choice, it was the ultimate goal. The kind of life a “good” woman was meant to want. The kind of life that meant you were doing things right. I grew up surrounded by that message. In conservative spaces, in church circles, in subtle conversations about what a “real” mother looked like. Women who stayed home were praised. Women who didn’t were quietly questioned. I learned, without ever being directly told, that a mother’s highest purpose was to center her entire world around her children and her...

Keep Reading

My Kids Think I'm a Good Mom—And That's Everything

Motherhood

My Kids Think I'm a Good Mom—And That's Everything

My Mother's Love Follows Me Still

Kids

Sometimes Motherhood Will Break You

RELATED: I Hope I Loved You Enough Today

But you are their mother and there is no resting.

RELATED: Moms Can’t Get Sick!

This is the hardest part of being their mom, and nobody knows it or sees it but you.

RELATED: This is Motherhood When Nobody is Watching

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Kelley Friedland

Motherhood Is a Thousand Goodbyes

Other Moms Seem to Make Summer Look Magical

These Moms on the Sidelines Became My People

I Wanted Experts to Fix My Child with ADHD. Instead, They Changed Me.

Parenting a Child with a Disability Is Holy Ground

I Came Home With a Baby—and Lost Myself

He Doesn’t Always Need Me Anymore and I’m Not Sure How To Feel About It

We Keep Calling Her Confident, But She Doesn’t Trust Herself

I Knew Something Was Wrong, But No One Listened—And It Almost Cost Me My Daughter

I Finally Admitted I Didn’t Want To Be a SAHM Anymore

Get It Now

So God Made a Mother

Sometimes Motherhood Will Break You

But you are their mother and there is no resting.

This is the hardest part of being their mom, and nobody knows it or sees it but you.

If you liked this, you'll love our book, SO GOD MADE A GRANDMA

Motherhood Is a Thousand Goodbyes

Other Moms Seem to Make Summer Look Magical

These Moms on the Sidelines Became My People

I Wanted Experts to Fix My Child with ADHD. Instead, They Changed Me.

Parenting a Child with a Disability Is Holy Ground

I Came Home With a Baby—and Lost Myself

He Doesn’t Always Need Me Anymore and I’m Not Sure How To Feel About It

We Keep Calling Her Confident, But She Doesn’t Trust Herself

I Knew Something Was Wrong, But No One Listened—And It Almost Cost Me My Daughter

I Finally Admitted I Didn’t Want To Be a SAHM Anymore

Previous Post

Next Post

You May Also Like