Relieved

I am sitting here watching Oprah, which is something I almost never do, but for some reason I am awake this afternoon and paying attention. And she is interviewing a mother who accidentally left her 2 year old in the car resulting in her death. As I watch I am so overwhelmed with emotion and simultaneously relieved because watching this show validates the fact that I am not the only mother in the world who constantly feels overwhelmed, and for a change I don't feel like a horrible mother because I know that I am not alone! It has always felt like I could not meet the invisible, imaginary model of a perfect mother. At any given moment on any given day I could literally lose it, or simply forget that the love of my life is in the backseat of the car. I am relieved that juggling motherhood, and a career, and resposiblities and grad school are difficult for other mothers out there too, because you never hear about that...you only ever hear and see these "perfect" moms with their "perfect" kids and then feel like a failure for not being that. So I have to say thank you to Oprah for making me realize that I am "normal" and that being an overwhelmed mother is more common than I thought! I mean there are mothers calling who have actually locked or left their kids in the car, who have ignored their child only to find them choking, and a myriad of other stories of mothers who feel the need to get it all done and in attempt to "multi-task" are playing russian roulette with their kids lives and unfortunately I am a part of that group. There needs to be a support group for "US"!!!!