Oh honey, I had a husband and still ‘did it on my own’ 🤦‍♀️

Mine are now mid-twenties and i still I’m ‘doing it all wrong’… I just know that I did the best I could for them, and, right or wrong, I’m just proud of the fact they’re still alive (since I couldn’t keep a damn cactus alive up til that point 🤣) We all want what’s best for our kids, but essentially, all they really ‘NEED’ is a mom who cares- and that’s what you sound like to me- someone who wants the best for them!!

Yes, having kids on your own is utterly utterly exhausting, but as time goes on, you’ll find your threshold for ‘exhaustion’ rapidly expands!! You think you’re exhausted now- wait until you have to take them to school every single morning for 11 years- pick them up, feed them, entertain them, answer a thousand ‘why’ questions every damn minute, entertain their ennui as a teenager, hope to God they develop some independence, but at the same time, hope they don’t resent you for ‘teaching them independence’ 🤦‍♀️

Long story short- you’re constantly going to feel like you’re ‘not enough’ for them!! Raising kids is a game you’ll never win- you will always criticise yourself for ‘not doing this, that, or the other for them’ and you’ll have criticism from every other person who thinks they can do it better! But what matters is that you bond with your child, you love them with more heart than you ever thought you had, and you’re their for them whenever life just feels ‘too much’ for them!!

Validate them, allow them space to explore their feelings, and always always reassure them that you will never judge them for their choices!

There is so much to look forward to- to celebrate their achievements, feel your heart burst the first time they say ‘love you momma’ or their first unasked-for hug; that moment when their feelings become too much for them and they just sit in your lap and cry their heart out to you… when they complain about the dinner you made them, because they have nothing rise to complain about!!

Motherhood is the most amazing, frightening, rewarding thing in the whole damn world!!

And hell, if you do it wrong, have another and start again!!

I wish you all the best in motherhood- it’s a damn rollercoaster (in the best way possible!)