“Mommy, where is my soccer ball?” “Mommy, I can’t find my shoes! Where are they?” “Mommy, I don’t want to go to bed!”

Does this sound familiar to you after a long day at work?

As a working mom myself, that’s how many times and ways my 3.5-year-old says my name in a matter of minutes. And I have a confession—sometimes I hide out in the bathroom for a brief moment fantasizing what it would be like to change my name for an hour.

Let’s face it motherhood is hard. 

And being a working mom is even harder. Momming is the most gratifying job on the planet, but it’s an around the clock gig. It’s 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. Before my daughter was born, I vowed to myself that I would be ready for her arrival, and I wouldn’t be one of “those moms” that didn’t have it all together. And my transition back to work was going to be smooth and stress-free. Besides, I’d managed to keep most of the things in my life organized and efficient—going back to work with a newborn shouldn’t be that bad. 

(My type A personality was going to get the job done!)

I dove into motherhood with a strategic plan of action, checked all the boxes twice, everything was in place, and I was “prepared” to full-fill my duties. Bless my heart. Little did I know, my life was about to change in a major way. 

Nothing or no one could have prepared me for the life of a working mother with a newborn. I’m sure you working moms out there can relate to this. Whether you’re a mompreneur, corporate mom, homemaker, or stay-at-home mom-we’re all working mums trying to keep our sanity and find balance. 

Though caring for a child is a massive undertaking and a full-time job, one of the issues for working mothers is the notion that we must be available around the clock for both at home and in the office. It’s an impossible and unreasonable expectation to be required of anyone, and yet, we try to hold ourselves to this perverse standard. Because we believe if we’re able to accomplish this task, we can do it all. Surely, we can do it all, but not all at the same time.

Initially, this concept was hard for me to accept because, without a second thought, you’re supposed to seamlessly show up for your child, right? And if that meant taking on the roles of being a housekeeper, chef, health care provider, teacher, counselor, playmate, chauffer, and event planner and on top of all that, work at my day job that’s what I was going to do.

But my body disagreed. Quickly, my super mom plans derailed, and I realized I wasn’t made of steel. At the time, I associated failure with not being able to do it all, and that’s certainly not true. Now that my daughter is a toddler, she’s involved in several activities (gymnastics, soccer, and swimming lessons) that forces me to prioritize and lessen my load, if needed. 

Every woman on the planet has a different path for their ambitions that should be valued and respected. And each of those ambitions looks very different, whether it’s viewed from the perspective of being traditional or nontraditional.

Despite the judgments of us working outside of the home valuing our careers, we’re allowed to have a career and a family and still be an amazing mom. As for you working mamas out there, let me whisper a freeing truth to you. A perfect mom doesn’t exist. 

Here’s the thing, your kids aren’t looking for perfection. They’re looking for love, care, and affection from the woman they love more than you will ever know, Mama. 

I’m thankful to have the best job on the planet, and I would not change it for anything. To all the moms out there, thank you for doing the hardest job in the universe and making it look effortless. 

Cheers to you, working Mom!