Choosing Honest Motherhood

In a world where we constantly see perfection plastered in front of our faces, I have become passionate about choosing honest motherhood over perfect. One play date at the park was the start of this journey for me. I can still remember pushing my toddler on a swing as I talked to my friend.

It had been a really tough week. Between the three kids, everyone seemed to need my constant attention and I felt like I was failing as a mom. However, I thought my friend would think I was crazy if I told her this. She was the mom who was always prepared. Her kids listened so well and she had it together. So instead of choosing to be honest, I chose to act like everything was great.

As we pushed our toddlers on the swings, my friend asked how I was doing. With a forced smile I said way too brightly, “Great, really great. How about you?” She smiled and said she was okay too. Looking back I see so clearly the fear we both had. One of us had to go first and choose to be honest about motherhood. Then a few minutes later she whispered the words that changed the trajectory of our friendship.

“Actually, to be honest I am really struggling right now,” she whispered as we continued to push the swings. I stopped pushing and turned to her, “Really? Because to be honest I am having a hard time as well.”

Within seconds we both exhaled as we shared openly about current struggles in motherhood. We were able to share, listen, and encourage each other because of her willingness to go first.

All it took was my friend choosing to be honest instead of hiding under the mask of perfection.

Friends, it is time we start being honest- about our messes, our wins, our struggles- everything.

[clickToTweet tweet=”Friends, it is time we start being honest- about our messes, our wins, our struggles- everything. #honestmotherhood” quote=”Friends, it is time we start being honest- about our messes, our wins, our struggles- everything. #honestmotherhood”]

Something beautiful happens when we are honest with others. It gives others the opportunity to step along side of us. When they do this, they can encourage us, lift us up, and cheer us on.

It lets others say me too. Far too often we believe the lie that what we are going through is uniquely our own struggle. Every single mama has struggles. She is either walking through them, has been in them, or will be in them. When we start to share our struggles or wins, our friends get to say, “yes, I struggled with that too!”

When we choose this path, we will see growth- even in the messes of life. Looking back on that day in the park, I see it as a turning point for our friendship. From that moment on, we were able to be each other’s cheerleaders in life. We started to form the kind of friendship we all deeply long for. However, if we had chosen to hide under lies, we would have been deprived of it.

My challenge for myself and you is to choose honesty over perfection. Let’s choose to encourage and cheer one another on. Instead of looking at the girl next to you and comparing yourself to her, champion her! Let’s chose honest motherhood from this day forward.