Hey, you! Yeah, you. You coffee sippin’, Pinterest posting, organic eating, anti-spanking, GMO-free, “birth story” sharing, target shopping, Tula wearing MOTHER…

You’re right: you’re an awesome mom.

But, sometimes while you’re so focused on your own picture of perfection, you lose sight of an equally important fact… So are your friends who eat/feed their children McDonald’s, don’t plan on following Maria Montessori’s educational method of teaching their kids, who let nannies and daycare workers watch their babies while they work. And, it’s great to gain self interest.. It’s not okay to bully a fragile, hard-working (usually under-appreciated) role model into thinking that their subscription to other ideas and systems is inferior to yours simply because they do things differently.

Motherhood should feel like a family, not a war.

Motherhood is the most incredible journey you’ll ever be lucky enough to experience, it’s scary and exciting, it’s raw & revealing. You go from WHYDIDNTSOMEONEWARNME to OMGIGETITMOMIMSOSORRYILOVEYOU every day of the adventure. Through pregnancy, we all go through the coolest, grossest, scariest, most exciting and worrisome miraculous journey as we watch our little ones make the voyage from a firefly on a dark screen to a silky headed bundle of all your dreams realized- tossed right into your arms, as if you have any idea what you’re doing. And, just like that, they actually trust you with a human. Your own tiny human. So, we all do it: we promise it that we’ll be the best, just for them.

And with that, it begins. Most of us make the same mistake- it’s why mothers of three chuckle when you pass them with a sort of arrogance and love at the same time that makes you unsure if you hate them or want to be their friend? We get it… you plan to change the world with this new responsibility. By the time you’re home from the hospital, you’ve finished the transformation into a full-blown momster. Everyone & everything in and around that kid will be perfect!!…missing the most important part: it already is.

{{There were a million other less favorable outcomes, but you were triumphant- you are lucky.. you are blessed far beyond measure.}}

No matter how you got here, you did it! You successfully brewed a kid. Whether that child has special quirks, or is delayed somehow due to a difficult pregnancy and scary birth, eventually walks with a limp or speaks with a lisp, is allergic to everything and walks around looking sick or eats like a pig and looks like a the Michelin man, can’t see or hear well or at all or is medically sound in every way so far.. You (both) did it, you got here. It’s not your job to change this precious gift into anything not meant to be; it’s your job to nurture, love, encourage & support your little bundle in the best way you can in order for him/her to thrive and fulfill the destiny that’s ahead.

The food you feed it doesn’t matter all that much- boob or bottle, feed that child however it eats best. If he/she poops and pees regularly, you’re doing it right. The clothes they wear won’t make them someone they aren’t meant to be. The school they attend won’t change the capacity they have to learn. The car seat they ride in won’t get them there faster, even if it’s the cutest model. The toys they have won’t make them any more interesting, or dull… but you will.

The greatest job you’ll ever have is to help your baby thrive.

• Provide them with the best environment you can.
• Show them love.
• Guide them to know what’s right.
• Encourage them to seek truth and always push them to challenge themselves.
• Let them know you love them in words, and actions, everyday.
• Lead by example.
• Never stop caring or trying to be what they need.
• Always be humble enough to accept that you can’t always fix things.
• Take peace in that when all else fails, support makes hard times softer.

Most importantly, understand that if you tear down the other mother trees in your little sprout’s environment because you don’t like the view, it will run out of clean air, shelter, and shade that it needs to survive. Love always wins.

And, in doing this together, imagine how great our kids will be: Oh, the places they’ll go! Welcome to the mom familia, the good life: the momfia life. #momfialife