No mom I know is a hot mess all the time. To my knowledge, we all experience moments when we feel like we've mastered parenting and are totally crushing it, only to experience moments that can best be described as total "hot mess" status. I’m know I'm guilty of beating myself up and trying to move through the hot mess phases as quickly as possible, so I personally think the moms that embrace it might be onto something. In fact, I have a feeling that unapologetic hot mess moms are winning at this whole motherhood thing.
I'm somewhat of a "new mom," so I can’t say what motherhood was like for other women of past decades, but I feel like — even in recent years — my friends and fellow moms have come a long way by emphatically embracing the messy parts of parenting. We can (usually) joke about the challenges, lament about the diaper blowouts and spit-up disasters, the lack of sleep and the spilled bowls of pureed carrots, as long as enough time has passed between the inciting incident and the present. Once time has done the dirty work, we can look back and realize that our mishaps are hilarious and our futile attempts are nothing if not entertaining.
However, even in this era of seemingly progressive parenting ideals, some of us (ahem, guilty) are still clinging to the idea that we should have it together, or at least look like we have it all together. However, and thankfully, I think there might be another way. Here’s what I think we can learn from our fellow hot mess moms, who aren’t afraid to flaunt their messiness: