Motherhood is full of joy, and there can also be a lot of grief that comes with this role. No one has to die or get sick in order to experience it. I have found that motherhood for me involves grief around my own sense of self and identity, my kiddos getting older and changing before my eyes, dreams deferred or never realized and many other things that pile up into a little heap of grief. None of this makes us bad parents! It makes us completely human. I was told over and over to enjoy every moment, and I also have had a lot of challenges in doing so because there are quite a few aspects of parenting that aren't that enjoyable. None of that means we don't love our kiddos or would change them for anything! But being a mom means having to expand my capacity to hold both joy and grief so I can experience my own life and my kids in a true and authentic way. I've learned it's ok to have grief around motherhood. We give a lot of ourselves to others so that they can become their truest selves, too! I think talking with other moms about how life feels sometimes is really helpful for me, and I don't feel judged or shamed. We deserve to experience all of our emotions, even as moms!