After many requests on our YouTube Channel to create a blog in order to have more interaction throughout the week, here we are, making your dreams a reality. Only, in actuality, it's more like making our dreams a reality, because, let's be honest- no one requested we do this, it was our own desire to start this blog in an attempt to stay more connected with you guys.
Most of you probably know who we are (hi, mom), but in the small chance that you wound up on our page by accident, we'd like to welcome you and introduce ourselves.
We are Rhea and Karissa. Rhea is married to Andrew and mama to the most rambunctious little boy, Drew (21 months). Karissa is married to Jake and mama to the most sweet, outgoing little girl, Brielle (18 months). Though Karissa and I grew up with one another, it is motherhood that brought us together and developed our friendship into what it is today. During our pregnancies, nothing surprised us more about motherhood than how little was shared about the journey we would soon be setting out on. Sure, we were told it was going to be hard. We were told everything would change. And we were even told to rub our nipples with sandpaper to prepare them for breastfeeding (seriously, will someone please try this). We were given all the basic instructions and well wishes were given, but there was so much that wasn't talked about, so much that we wish someone would have shared with us.
Vulnerability is a scary thing for anyone, but it is especially terrifying for a mother. Having to admit that you weren't able to have that all natural, drug-free birth you had talked about for months is heartbreaking. Telling others that breastfeeding was, in fact, the most unnatural thing you've ever experienced is embarrassing. And having to fake that your kid has zero sleep issues is, well, exhausting. There is so much we keep hidden, because we are brought up to believe that if any of the latter applies to you, you are a failure as a mother. In one way or another your body or your decisions have let your husband and child and, most of all, yourself down. Everyone else has got the whole motherhood thing down, but you...you are failing.
Instead of reaching out for help and admitting that everything isn't butterflies and rainbows, we hide the dark circles under our eyes with a pound of concealer, curl our hair, put on a clean shirt (or you spray a ton of perfume on a dirty one, because really, who has time for laundry with a newborn?), and head out into the world. We smile and talk about how great everything is going, and when the baby begins to get fussy we head home and cry in the closet. Only, no one talks about that part.
Youtube and Instagram are full of incredibly helpful, beautiful moms documenting their daily lives. We know this, because we follow nearly every single one of them. They are all amazing and insightful and they are all, quite literally, perfect. They post pictures of their tiny post partum bodies and lavish beach vacations just weeks after their babies are born. They talk about breastfeeding and how they got their baby on a sleep schedule at just four weeks old, and other incredibly useful things, but we have yet to find anyone who talks about how hard being a mom is. We wanted to find moms that talked about being in a complete depression the first two weeks of their precious babies life. Moms with kids who were terrible sleepers and eaters. We wanted reassurance that we weren't failing. We wanted to hear (from someone who wasn't obligated to give us praise and reassurance) that maybe, just maybe, we weren't failing at all, and that we were not alone. We finally realized that we were those moms, and that's where The Mama Monologues came in.
We are just two small town girls who fail as mothers every.single.day. And we're okay with that. And we want other moms to be okay with that, too. We're not going to get it right all the time. Some days our kids will nap, and some days they won't. Some days you'll snuggle and cuddle with the most loving toddler ever, and some days you'll watch them throw themselves on the ground kicking and screaming every two hours. Some days you'll think you've got it all together, and some days you get a huge slap in the face that you know nothing. Some days you'll laugh and others you'll cry. We know because we've been there, and we're pretty sure we'll be there for the rest of our lives.
It is our hope that through our YouTube channel and this blog we will give you a bit of reprieve from the trials and joy in the victories. We want to be genuine. We want you to know you're not alone. You're not failing. No matter how bad today might be, you are an incredible, loving mother, and in a couple hours the sun will rise, and a new day will begin.
Since keeping up with a blog requires much less prep and does not require a lengthy process, it is our hope that we are able to share other sides of ourselves with you all. Yes, we are first and foremost wives and mothers, but we are also young women who love cooking (Annie's Mac n' Cheese, anyone?), fashion (aka target sales racks), fitness (our like for this one is questionable), and DIY projects (more like Pinterest fails), and we are so excited to share all of that with you guys.
We hope you stop by often and enjoy reading this blog as much as we enjoy writing it.
-R
No comments:
Post a Comment