A Woman Opens Up About the Challenges of Being a Mom and Shows Life With Kids Isn’t Always Rosy

Lying awake at night waiting for their child to come home or giving up buying something for themselves to save for Christmas presents are just some of the gestures that make us see many mothers as superheroines. However, sometimes instead of that invisible cape, there is a heavy sack of guilt that they rarely dare to talk about.

But that is not the case for Ana Paola Lynch, a TikToker and the mother of 2 young children, who has used social media to publicly expose her feelings about the burdens of parenting shared by some of her followers, who are also mothers.

In one of her shares, Ana Paola opens up about the overwhelming feeling of guilt that floods her for not being able to devote quality time to her eldest son, who is 3 and a half years old, when she must also take care of her youngest son, who’s only 1 year old.

“I am extremely tired. I want to disappear and do nothing, and at the same time, I want to spend quality time with him; on the other hand, I want to sit at my computer to work and I can’t do everything.” This is how she describes the crossroads a mom can face.

Guilt is not a foreign feeling for mothers. According to some surveys, about 90% of them may experience it as a manifestation of their concern about not knowing whether their parenting decisions are the right ones. Constant exposure to messages from the social environment about what a parent is supposed to do contributes greatly to this.

These messages come from a variety of sources, whether it be social media, child-rearing experts, or other parents in our environment.

That is why Ana Paola comes forward and speaks about this pressure, claiming that “society imposes expectations on us that are not at all real.” She goes on to explain that this applies to many aspects of a mother’s life, from the way she raises her children to her professional life, including her relationship with her partner and her personal image.

She also confesses openly what it has been like for her to go through postpartum anxiety after the birth of her 2 children. Due to this disorder, which according to Ana is more common than we might think, she has also had to deal with a deep and uncontrollable fear that something bad might happen to her children at any time or place. For this reason, she invites moms who think they are going through the same thing to seek professional support.

In spite of everything, this Mexican mother takes things with some humor and reflects on how everyday situations, such as eating out with your child, can become a challenge. “The burden of work, the kids, the house... Moms never rest, never,” says Ana Paola.

In the end, to show that after all that whirlwind of emotions always comes calm, this young woman shares an encouraging message with other moms: “Never feel like you’re not doing enough or that you’re not doing it right. You are doing AMAZING. You can’t do it all, every day.”

What off-hand comments have you ever heard someone make to a mom? What aspects of motherhood do you think were more difficult in our parents’ day?