This post is part of The Mental Load Series, a four-part look at the invisible work that keeps families running (and mums running on caffeine).
Motherhood isn’t about perfection; it’s messy, chaotic, and sometimes hilarious!
There are days the lunchboxes don’t get packed.
The laundry stays in the machine.
You forget the permission slip, burn the dinner, yell when you didn’t mean to, and still remember the name of your kid’s best friend’s rabbit.
That’s not failure. That’s motherhood.
Behind every smiling photo is a woman spinning plates while someone’s yelling “Mum!” from another room.
It’s not a performance. It’s improv. With snacks.
If we’ve learned anything from carrying the mental load, it’s that we can’t keep pretending to have it all together. The pressure to do it perfectly is what keeps the load so heavy.
Perfection is boring. Chaos is where the stories come from. It’s where the laughs happen, the hugs land, and the memories stick.
So instead of aiming for balance that doesn’t exist, maybe we just aim for moments.
Moments where the noise fades and you catch your breath.
Moments that are messy and funny and real, where you realise that love doesn’t live in the clean laundry pile.
Lightening the load sometimes means giving yourself permission to drop a few balls, and maybe even throw one across the room for fun.
Say no more often. Let people help (even if they do it wrong). And if dinner is cereal again, so be it.
Motherhood isn’t about getting it right.
It’s about finding the magic in the mayhem, laughing at the chaos, and remembering you’re not alone in it.
💬 So how do you take the pressure off?
Share your mess, your magic, or your best hack to lighten the load, and let’s make it normal to talk about this.
💡 Read the full Mental Load Series:
- Part 1 – What Is the Mental Load, Really?
- Part 2 – Why Is It So Hard to Let Go?
- Part 3 – How Do We Lighten the Mental Load Without Dropping the Balll
- Part 4 – Motherhood Isn’t About Perfection
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