For the Moms Who Keep Showing Up (Even When It’s Hard)

Real talk from two daughters who finally understand what our mom was carrying

We’ve both said this more than once—our mom is ridiculously nice.

Like almost too nice.

The kind of nice that can feel annoying when you’re in the middle of a meltdown and she’s over there looking for the silver lining.

She’s the one who’ll say, “It’s all going to work out,” while you’re sweating, spiraling, and swearing under your breath.

But once the dust settles, we always come back to the same thought:

We want to be more like her.

She raised twelve kids.

And we don’t remember her yelling. Or checking out. Or putting herself first.

We just remember love.

Warmth.

Food on the table.

An unshakable calm in the chaos.

And prayer—so much prayer.

Motherhood cracks you wide open.

It softens you in places you didn’t know were hard.

It exposes parts of yourself you hadn’t met before—your tenderness, your rage, your fierce protectiveness.

It brings you to your knees and builds you back up again.

It teaches you what it means to love unreasonably, to give without applause, and to keep showing up even when you're running on fumes.

The physical exhaustion. The emotional juggling act.

The constant balancing of everyone’s needs while trying to remember if you’ve even brushed your own teeth that day.

And the opinions.

Ohhh the opinions.

Everyone seems to have one when you’re a mom.

You’re doing too much.

You’re not doing enough.

You should be stricter.

You should lighten up.

You should make organic baby food from scratch, volunteer at school, work a part-time job, keep the house clean, plan quality time with your partner, maintain friendships, and don’t forget your skincare routine while you’re at it.

It’s exhausting.

And yet, when we think about our mom—we realize she probably heard all those same opinions.

But she kept showing up.

She kept loving us.

She kept doing the next right thing, even if nobody else saw it.

That’s the part that humbles us.

Being a mom is hard.

Being a mom and trying to be everything to everyone? Even harder.

But maybe, just maybe, the secret isn’t about being everything.

Maybe it’s about being steady.

Kind.

Patient, even when it doesn’t come easy.

Like our mom.

And motherhood? It doesn’t come with an off switch.

It doesn’t end when your kids move out, or grow up, or start families of their own.

The moment you become a mother, your life is never the same.

You’ll always wonder if they’re okay.

You’ll carry their hurts in your heart and their wins in your soul.

You’ll go from diapers to driving lessons to late-night phone calls from their first apartment... and you’ll still be showing up.

Because motherhood doesn’t expire.

It stretches. It shifts.

But it never really ends.

It just grows with you.

This Mother’s Day, we’re not just celebrating our mom (though she deserves a crown).

We’re celebrating every woman who mothers—whether by birth, by heart, by choice, or by necessity.

We’re honoring: 

—The ones raising babies, teens, grown kids, or caring for their parents 

—The single moms doing it all, even when it feels like too much 

—The ones figuring out how to mother with input coming from all directions(co-parents, parents, in-laws, and everyone in between) 

—The ones balancing marriage and motherhood, trying to hold both with grace 

—The “bonus moms” learning how to love in spaces they didn’t create 

—The ones waiting for their miracle, holding hope like a quiet prayer

—The ones carrying life and preparing to meet their babies for the first time

—The ones grieving the loss of a child, carrying a love that never fades

—The ones grieving the mom they lost, or the mom they never really had 

—The ones whose journey began in the NICU, loving their babies through tubes, beeps, and sterile glass

We’re celebrating our sisters—by blood and by choice—who know what it means to hold space, hold babies, and sometimes hold back tears.

The strong women in our family who are raising the next generation with grit and grace (and maybe a little caffeine and sarcasm too).

We see you.

And here’s something not said often enough:

Mothers shape the world.

Through birth, yes—but also through nurture, care, presence, and love.

That’s not something to take lightly.

It’s sacred in its own quiet, everyday way.

So if you’re a mom, you’re doing work that matters.

And if you’ve been mothered well—by a parent, a sister, a friend, or a mentor—don’t forget to tell her how much that meant, not just on Mother’s Day. 

From our hearts to yours,

Happy Mother’s Day.