Why I Love My Mom Friends

As some of you may know, I've been having a bit of a rough time with Pig and his toddlerness. I feel like I'm having constant mom fails and wondering if I'm completely messing him up with my lack of patience and attention.

Some days, I just sit in my shower with the water on above me, and attempt to recollect myself. I tell myself that tomorrow, I'll do better. Tomorrow, I won't look at my phone or tablet. Tomorrow, I'll get down on the floor and really play with him. Tomorrow, I won't lose my patience and yell. Maybe tomorrow, we'll even do a craft.

Being a mom is so hard sometimes. Rarely is there an entire day that I feel like a get everything right. And honestly, I feel like it's a good day if I feel like I get at least half of it right. Ugh.

Enter my friend, Emily. She also has a little boy the same age as Pig. Her and I met in a mommy group back when our boys were just itty bitties.

She bakes the best stuff

I remember our conversations back then revolved around the opinions of breastfeeding and cry-it-out. How our babies were developing and how much were they sleeping.

Cut to now, and our conversations revolve around our mom guilt and frustrations. About losing our patience and feeling sorry about it immediately after. About putting the tv on way too much and not getting out enough.

She is a breath of fresh air for me. Reminding me that I'm not in this boat alone and that being a mom to a toddler is hard. It's tiring and exhausting and confusing and stressful.

But the thing that our past conversations and current ones have in common, is that we want to be good moms. And we want and need to connect to each other so we know we're doing okay and that our kids are going to survive our mothering. That we're normal.

Hanging out with a mom friend is like being in a confessional, where you get all your secrets out and into the open, and where you are forgiven.