There was a moment during the first day of The Mama Sagas that will always stick with me.
I was talking to a mom of an 8 day old, and I asked her, “What do you wish someone had told you about being a mom before you had your baby?”
After a quick second, she looked at me and said, “The truth.”
We both laughed… And as any mom will tell you, it’s funny because it’s TRUE.
I’ve been floundering through motherhood since the moment I got this gig, and I suspect a lot of you might feel the same. To me, motherhood is like walking through a strange, dark room with your arms out like a zombie, trying to find a light, without banging your head or your knee into anything sharp. You feel all at once like a huge klutz and a complete a-hole, with a little irrational fear thrown into the mix. But then, when you find that light – AHA!!! All is right in the world. You can conquer anything.
Raising kids is the highest stakes game out there. We all want to do the best job we possibly can, and we push forward, despite the fact that we are faced with daily experiences that humble us, terrify us, break us down or make us want to vomit. Becoming a mom isn’t something that happens in 9 months. It is something that happens constantly – continuously – each and every day after giving birth.
I, too, wish someone could have told me the truth: how I would be constantly outsmarted by a 2 year old, how I would never be able to run more than one errand at a time ever again, how I would be so exhausted I would try to open the front door with my key fab repeatedly, how I would bathe in projectile vomit and even projectile poo. And that despite all of it, I would be just fine. It would have been nice to know that the picture perfect image of motherhood that we aspire to is nothing but an illusion.
And then I wish someone would have told me that the truth isn’t so scary. It’s pretty hilarious, actually. The imperfect moments are the ones worth remembering. They are the moments that make us laugh and show us our true strength. They are the moments that bond us to other women. They are the moments that remind us that we can, indeed, conquer anything (well, almost anything. There’s wine for the rest).
I am incredibly excited to give moms a forum to share their stories and celebrate the truth of motherhood. I hope you enjoy the stories as much as I have enjoyed filming them, and I hope it inspires you to celebrate the raw beauty of imperfection, in yourself and in others. After all, we’re all just trying to find the light.
If you want to add your Mama Saga to the conversation, contact Saralyn at themamasagas@gmail.com.
Saralyn Ward is an award-winning writer, wellness advocate, and mountain mama. She is the founder of The Mama Sagas, writes for several publications and hosts a regular parenting TV segment on Colorado's Everyday Show. When she's not huddled over edits, you're likely to find Saralyn climbing peaks or skiing down them, and reminding herself that the two little girls that call her mom are not the boss of her.