The Masks of Motherhood.

                                                                 
Why do we as mothers feel the need to wear masks? Why do we all shuffle to clean our houses before visitors? And take pictures of only the organized? We all know that clean and organized only lasts for a moment in the house of a family. It's temporary. It's staged. It's....fake.

Let's let it all hang out. Let's be real. Let's talk about our problems and laugh about our chaos.We should ignore the temporary beauty of Pinterest pantries, realize that the beautifully photographed moments shared on Facebook are just that-- moments. Let's remember that perfection is only an image -- one that we create in our minds of how it's suppose to be.

Do you know what is perfect to me? And probably to every mother reading this?
Perfect is a house full of children with belly-deep laughs, pulling sheets and pillows onto forts, painting their little toes purple, tracking in footprints of mud onto the floors after catching butterflies in nets, stirring pancake batter while it pours over the sides of the tallest bowl, and days spent in jammies. That's perfect because it's real. It's the ordinary not so beautiful reality of life that you never snap the photo of that matters.

Here is the funniest part of all. All those pictures on Facebook and Pinterest will not be our favorite. Sure, our children were smiling perfectly, the lighting was phenomenal and they were holding a framed image of their age and grade on top quality paper. But, it was temporary and posed.

The truth is, we will love the photos of the real life that we never shared. The ones that show the piles of shoes and mud in the background. The photos where our children were caught making a mess with baby powder in the nursery. Or the time when they took out every single matchbox car and organized them by color (and chaos). The ones where everyone has messy faces and naked bums. It is those  photos that will bring us back to what it was really like, not what we thought it was suppose to be like at the time.

The photos where the masks are off, and the realness of our worlds are displayed with nakedness will be the ones that we carry in our pockets and wallets when we get older. They will be aged and tattered...and sacred. 

So, forget what you see on Pinterest. Ignore the suppose-to-be, and embrace the realities. Laugh off the muddy floors, and open your door to visitors without putting away the toys first. Stand tall and proud to be the mother without the mask. You are real. You have a home full of children and the realization that perfect does not mean clean and organized. It means laughter, and silliness, sprawled out toys and crumbs. It is not an organized playroom and flawlessly designed children's bedroom. It is not always beautiful, but it is always worth it. 

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