You are doing great!

You are not failing as a mother. Society is failing you. The system isn’t built to support you.You were never meant to do it all alone, to carry everything on your shoulders.

We were meant to have a community, support, financial stability, and time.You are not failing—the system is failing you.

You carry it all—your baby, your bills, your work, your household, your responsibilities, your relationships.The system is failing by not giving you the space to simply be there—to expand and grow.

As women, we had to fight for our rights: for education, for work, for the right to vote (and some are still fighting).We had to fight for autonomy over our own bodies, for control over our own lives.But never did we agree to give up the right to simply be a mother for a while if that was our choice. To be a family.

We get pregnant, we experience the wonder of growing life within us, we birth a human being. But it’s not as simple as just being there- 

We get 0–1 year of maternity leave, pressured to return before we "fall behind."We live far from our families, isolated from support. We leave our kids at daycare.We work, pick them up, cook, clean, manage life’s struggles, see our friends too little, put exercise at the bottom of the list.By bedtime, we’re too exhausted for anything but Netflix. We go in circles.Our nervous systems are on high alert, flooded with stress, overloaded with demands.There’s too little time to sit and breathe.Too little time between pick-up and bedtime to truly connect with our children—to play, to be present.

No, you didn’t fail because you raised your voice at bedtime when things weren’t moving fast enough.You are simply overloaded.It’s been a long day. A long week.Years and years of too little support and far too much pressure.

Society is failing families.Society is failing single parents.Society is failing our children.

This isn’t about blame.Yes, we all have choices. Yes, we can make small changes, find ways to reclaim our power. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy.

I see you.I see the exhaustion in your eyes.I see the weight you carry.

Please, don’t be too hard on yourself.Love yourself for all that you do.And ask for help.

You were never meant to do this alone.

We see the “supermoms” doing handstands while pregnant, the models who are back in shape two weeks postpartum, the women returning to work as if they never left, seemingly thriving.But most of us? We are barely breathing.

So if you’re struggling, ask for help. Find your community.

AND if you have a friend who’s a mother, don’t just ask if she needs help—give it to her. Hug her. Bring her a bowl of soup.Sit with her kids so she can take a long, hot bath.

Let her recharge—so she can be there for herself, for her family, and for everything else she carries