Instagram Life vs. Real Life- You’re Not Alone.

Hey, Mama friends!  Can I just be super honest with you today?  Like real life.  Let’s start here… with our Instagram lives:

Our Instagram lives are adorable.  Our kids are smiling or doing something incredibly cute.  Sometimes we’re in the picture with them, on the rare chance that we brushed our hair that day.  And I know.  I am so guilty of this.  We all do it, and I totally get it.  I mean, no one really wants to see tons of pics of my kids pitching a fit (mine totally just cried because I wouldn’t let him play with my pump.  What in the world?!) or pics of the piles of dishes that we haven’t done.

I love seeing your Instagram lives.  Your kids are really adorable and funny.  I really love seeing you girl mamas post pics of your littles in those matching outfits and bows.  I love my boys, but their outfits just aren’t near as cute as that sparkly, monogrammed onesie your little girl is wearing.  One of the negatives of our Instagram lives, though, is that we get in our heads that what others post on Instagram is their whole life.  We get in our heads that their kids are always cute and never screaming, that their to-do lists got done for the day, and that they probably made a Pinterest-y meal to end the evening.  We get caught up in comparison and can easily begin to feel lonely and like we’re the only ones living in the midst of chaos.

So, friend, if that’s you today, I just want you to know that you’re not alone in your chaos, and give you a glimpse into my reality:

I’m sure that your reality looks similar.  We’ve been on the struggle bus the past few weeks. One of us has had some sort of cough/cold, and we’ve all shared it with each other (so sweet of us to share!).  If I’m honest, I’m not sure when the last time was that my floors were mopped.  You can’t really tell if either of my boys’ rooms have a floor (Hunter likes to make BOTH rooms messy).  Hunter has had too much screen time this week.  Isaac wore 4 or 5 different onesies yesterday (I began to lose count).  We’ve also been dealing with lots of snot and coughing.  I could go on, but you get the picture.

I say all of this to say this- you are not alone, Mama.  We’ve all had our “struggle bus” weeks, despite what our Instagram accounts say.  Don’t feel alone.  Don’t make yourself think that all of the other mamas have it all together, because we all know that we don’t.  We’re all just figuring out this motherhood thing one day at a time, as we go.  So, when your kid starts pitching a fit because something isn’t going their way or teething begins to get the best of your baby, just know that I’m right there with you.  And so many other mamas are too.  In the words of the classic, High School Musical, “We’re all in this together.”

p.s. Go enjoy yourself some edible cookie dough (thanks, Target!) and Netflix during nap time today.