Hello readers of ModernMom! I’m the new mom blogger on the block, and it is a huge privilege for me to add my name to the list of truly accomplished women who write for this site.
But first, I have a confession:
I’m not really an expert. I just play one on TV — or on my webcam.
When I began my motherhood journey in April of 2010, I became so overwhelmed with the advice, the books, the experts, the advocates, and the mom bullies who insist that there is a “perfect” way to parent.
(You know the type.)
It was enough to make me think my kids were better off being raised by wolves than a mother who was depressed, who doesn’t enjoy going to the park, who pretends to go to the bathroom just to get some quiet, who forgets to do laundry, who doesn’t always buy organic, who doesn’t use cloth diapers, and who hides food from her kids so they won’t eat it all.
Soon after our first child was born, I started to come unravelled. I honestly felt like a complete failure before my kids were even old enough to tell me that in therapy!
So I put down the expert advice and started to read about mothers who felt the exact same way. Mothers who, like me, didn’t have it all together — or at least didn’t try to appear as though they did.
I’m not talking about the extreme moms who brag about the downright dangerous/illegal things they do to their kids (lacing sippy cups with sedatives and the like). Just moms who feel not-so-perfect. These moms made me laugh because they were REAL. Some of them will never know how much their humor still keeps me going amidst the chaos.
I started Katy in a Corner as a creative outlet for me but also as a safe place for moms to get a break from the “perfect parenting” hype out there. My prayer is that — without vulgarity or profanity — I can laugh along with other moms as we figure this thing out together.
Because, let’s face it, motherhood is downright hilarious. And also terrifying.
So without further ado, this is the first video in a series I call How-to Tuesdays. It is appropriately titled “How to be a Perfect Mother.”
