A Spanish Psychologist Illustrates the Ups and Downs of Being a Mother

Motherhood can turn any woman’s life upside down, it’s a totally new way of living. “Adjusting to the role of being a mother for the first time is complicated. You’ve probably never done or lived anything like it. The fears, the doubts, the tiredness... it’s a whole lot of emotions and new experiences all at once.” This is what Mamen Jiménez, a psychologist living in Madrid, told us about the changes women experience when becoming mothers. We contacted her and, in her interview with Bright Side, she told us that her father was an artist, so drawing was actually a pretty natural way for her to express what her new life looked like as a mother. On Instagram, Mamen is known as Lapsicomami, short for The Psychologist Mother in Spanish. That’s why, on top of her great illustrations, she also gives a few tips for all the moms out there wondering if more people experience the same things that they do.

Bright Side wants to share some of the best illustrations with you that this psychologist (and mother) creates about the daily life of a mother. We thought they were great because they show the real side of things. And at the end of the article, you’ll find some pretty useful tips about motherhood.

1. You have to admit it’s true!

2. Realizing how old you actually are...

3. You might need new glasses to be able to see things properly.

4. Remember when you swore not to do the things you hated your parents doing to you?

5. Super nice to have them hanging at home all day long, right?

6. And also when I think I can take a 10-minute nap...

7. Finding pairs of socks can be harder than solving equations.

8. Is there such a thing as “too much coffee”? I don’t think so.

9. And this illustration here is the proof of that

10. This is also true for Friday night outfits.

11. This is so unfair.

12. Never look back.

13. This is what a magazine would look like if it told the truth about motherhood.

14. And what about us?

15. Summer is clearly the longest season of the year.

Tips and thoughts

• The supermom model is supposed to be able to handle everything. We are asked to raise our children as if we don’t have a job and to work as if we don’t have children. These unrealistic standards hurt us a lot because we can just “never get there.” But that model is not real, it is not feasible, and in the process of trying to attain that standard, we could lose our minds. Let’s be realistic, we are human! And it’s okay to not get everything right because that’s just impossible!

• Take care of yourself, you are important. Obviously, you have to take care of and love the little ones, they are a priority, but we have to be our own priority too. Our state of mind, our self-esteem, and our well-being depend (among other things) on the things we set our minds to. Clearly, your house is important, your washing machine is important, or that work project you’ve been working on is important, yes, but you are a priority as well.

• One very useful thing that helps a lot is to have a realistic agenda: let’s write down what we reasonably want to do the next day, what can be done, and nothing more. When we make a realistic agenda, we feel a sense of satisfaction for what we have done at the end of the day. However, if we have an unrealistic, huge list, at the end of the day we’ll be left with frustration because we have not reached our goals, and that does not feel good!

What do you think is the hardest thing about being a mother? How would you describe the experience of being a mother?