Guess what, you are not failing, so get that thought out of your head. I do not care who you are or what stage of motherhood you are in, we all feel like failures at some point. Unless you are the perfect mom with perfect children, then I apologize. This story is obviously not for you.

For all the rest of you guys living on coffee and managing life on a tight rope, welcome to the world I call motherhood. It is an elite club, only the finest members survive. It is hard and it is messy, but the blood, sweat and tears are worth it. Sometimes it may not feel like it. Sometimes you wonder how you now live in a world where everything you always said you would never do is now perfectly normal. In this world the tiny humans that you created and without a doubt would die for, sometimes drive you insane. Those same little people have a way of convincing you that the rational put-together person that you were before you met them has simply disappeared and she has taken your mind with her. She is probably on a beach somewhere sipping strawberry margaritas and you secretly hate her. That person does not count to five so many times that she actually hates the number five.

That normal person has been replaced by someone that stands alone in the kitchen for a second and convinces themselves that they can do this. They say to themselves I did it one thousand days before and I will do it one thousand more days. I can wash the clothes, dishes and prepare lunch kits for the pickiest human beings on the planet and make sure the soft skirt is washed; while I feed the dog and the cat. I tell myself I can pick them up from school, get haircuts, grab groceries, go to gymnastics, pick up dinner make it home to do homework and baths and maybe just maybe have 20 minutes to honestly just breathe.

I can say pick up your socks ten more times before they actually hear the words. I can say it and not yell it at the top of my lungs, because for some strange reason it seems logical to these angelic children that anything in the world that they own can just fall on any surface that it touches. Sometimes I swear my voice is not a sound that their ears register. It is the only sound they do not hear until I completely lose it and they look at me like I’m a maniac. And, I look back at them shockingly thinking, "really you are wondering why I’m losing it? I’m sorry my yelling offends you. Your blatant ignoring of me offends me."

We all want to yell, "I carried you for nine months, gave birth to you and woke up to every sound you have ever made for your entire life, is it too much for me to ask you to pick up a sock?" But, God forbid you ignore them while you are taking a shower and they need the password to iTunes and you don’t hear the banging and yelling through the door. I am sure by the urgency that this information is needed that the world will officially end in the next sixty seconds if the password is not typed in.

Those days are our every day lives. The real fun begins when you add those moments to the happiest time of the year. You are not sure if you need a bottle of wine at all times or a double shot of espresso. So you can be the best Santa and the funniest elf. The maker of all things Pinterest and a home interior designer, while being the bearer of all holiday cheer.

Because let’s face it mom, it is your job to do all these things. And, it may be the hardest most exhausting job on the planet Earth. But, we signed up for it and would we have it any other way? While we may scream for help, we are the first ones to say, "No I got this. No one does the lunch kits the same. No one knows the right Gatorade to buy. No one else knows what their favorite tooth paste is. No one else is the finder of all things lost in their world." We would never let someone else pick out their gifts or plan their parties or shop for their school clothes. Because, we know that while everyone else is capable, no one else is me and they are counting on me. And that means everything.
Truth is I don’t remember my life without them and I do not want to. I have relished every single second of their lives since they first came fiercely into this world as stubborn and strong willed as they are today.

This is how I know I’m not failing, because even though they drive me to the brink of insanity, they still love me. They still sing at the top of their lungs with me in the car. They know when they are stuck on a wire twenty feet in the air and they are scared, I will get them. No matter what I will get to them. They have a faith that come hell or high water I will be there. Because they know without a single doubt that I have their backs. Because my princess says I know you will always save me and because my firecracker of a son says not all girls are tough like mom.

When I look in the mirror I see someone trying to keep it together at the end of the day. They see a superhero, the fixer who fixes everything wrong in their lives. They have a faith in us like no one has ever had, because through their eyes we are rock stars.
So, at the end of the day in your precious 5, 10 or 20 minutes, pat yourself on the back. You did it – you fed them, clothed them and managed to get them every single place they needed to be in a day and everyone survived. You did a great job mom and you will wake up tomorrow and do it all again. When it comes to the tiny humans that you created you will never fail because the fact that you are willing to do it all again shows just how much you are winning.