The perfect mum does not exist

The perfect mum does not exist. We are surrounded by social media, books, specialists and people telling us what a mother should be like. There are no perfect mums, only real mums.

Real mums who, despite not having slept properly in a very long time, still wake up full of love to breastfeed or prepare a bottle. Some tired mums become overwhelmed, who cry or raise their voices, and yet still carry on singing nursery rhymes to their children. Mums who feel guilty much of the time and question whether they are doing things properly with their children. Mums who feel anxious, mums who simply want the very best to see their children happy. Those real mums are incredible.

Letting go of the idea of perfection in motherhood, as it is often portrayed on social media, means making space for the real mum who cannot be seen through those carefully curated photographs. Being a real mum means experiencing mixed and contradictory emotions, just like any human being. There are good days and bad days. Being a real mum means loving with your whole heart, while sometimes also needing to be alone to keep giving that love.

To all those real mums who feel guilty for being real, for being human, for feeling so deeply throughout motherhood, those intense emotions also include the love that shapes their children, transforms them, and helps make them human too.

Author: Ana Charles