Hi, I’m Shannon, and I’m a hot mess mom.
I realized I wanted to be a mom at a very young age. I grew up watching my mother, a single mom for most of my life, overcome everything thrown at her. She did everything for my sister and I; she was always our rock. She raised me to be independent. She showed me that it was okay to struggle. Most importantly, she showed me how to raise strong and driven kids, exactly how I wanted to raise my own.
Fast-forward to 2018 and the birth of my first daughter. WTF. Is this actually what I dreamed about? I had read the books and followed the apps, but I still didn’t have a clue what I was doing. Having a new baby was the most profound and rewarding thing I have ever experienced, but it was also the moment I completely lost my sense of self.
It took me almost a year of a silent struggle to find myself again. I started running for the physical benefit, and it quickly became my outlet. I was still working and finding the balance of the working mom life. The pieces were finally starting to fall into place. The pandemic hit just as I was getting the hang of the whole mom life thing.
The day I announced my second pregnancy, the world shut down. Navigating a pandemic while pregnant and with a toddler was quite possibly the most challenging thing I have ever done. It didn’t seem like it at the time, but it was the beginning of a new era for me as a mom: the strong era. When my son was born in September 2020, I finally felt confident in my abilities as a mother. I could overcome anything.
I ran a half marathon the day that I took a pregnancy test confirming my third (and final!) kid. To say that I was in denial is putting it lightly. (12 pee tests level of denial.) Remember how I said that navigating a pandemic was challenging? Enter the “being pregnant while chasing two toddlers” stage. The final chapter of our chaos was born in May of 2022, and she was the best little “oops” we could have asked for to complete our family. After she was born, I became a stay-at-home (in-the-trenches) mom.
I am a hot mess. I do not have my stuff together.
I will show up to school drop-offs wearing leggings and cat ears that I forgot were on my head. (And yes, this happened.) My house will always have toys on every surface. I will lose my cookies after the nine millionth “MOMMY!” of the day. I will hide in the bathroom just for a few minutes to breathe.
One day, I will be the productive, crafty mom. One day, I will be the mom folding laundry in her room while her kids entertain themselves. One day, my kids would knock entire displays of gum down in the grocery store because they wanted to push a cart. The next day, my kids would come home and tell me they got to be the helper at school because they were kind.
I am not the perfect mom, but I am their mom. I may be a mess, but I will always be their rock. After all, they are the only tiny people on this planet that can get me to stop mid-run to wipe a butt or open a snack.
Join me on this wild, chaotic, and rewarding ride we call motherhood. All aboard the Hot Mess Express!
