Motherhood doesn’t need more pressure. It needs more permission to...

How would you fill in this blank? Sit with that for a moment. What pops in your mind?

This post was inspired by the wonderful team at Soleo Wellness - who are on a mission to change how mothers are supported because they believe deeply that moms deserve better. And, the more we normalize honest conversations about motherhood, the less alone mothers feel. As a group of 6 moms + the many moms at Soleo, we share how we fill in this blank...

Permission to ask for help.

Permission to miss who you were.

Permission to take the medication.

Permission to go to therapy.

Permission to rest.

Permission to not love every single stage.

Jen, Bespoke Travel Planner from @GlobalOnDemandTravel

Motherhood doesn’t need more pressure. It needs more permission to...be a little selfish.

We pour our souls into our kids, our jobs, our families, and everyone who needs us. We give and give, often putting ourselves last.

But we’re allowed to pour some of that time and energy back into ourselves, too.

Take the trip. Spend an afternoon with a book. Go exercise. Have lunch alone. Explore somewhere new. Do something simply because you want to.

And do it without guilt.

You don’t need to earn time for yourself, and you don’t need permission from anyone else to enjoy your own life.

Your kids need you, but they also need to see that being a mother doesn’t mean losing yourself.

So be a little selfish. Choose yourself sometimes.

Motherhood doesn’t need more pressure. It needs more permission to live, too.

Rebecca, Woman's Leadership Coach from @PleasantlyAggressive

Motherhood doesn’t need more pressure. It needs more permission to...grieve.

Every time my kids make a transition (starting a new school, quitting a sport) there is a possibility that I’ll grieve the passage of time and the changes they’re experiencing, but that’s not a widely accepted notion.

Not everything is joyous, or rather, it can contain both joy and grief.

Ashley, Millennial Mom Nutrition Coach from @AshleyBreaksTheCycle

Motherhood doesn't need more pressure. It needs more permission to... be messy.

The pressure to have it all together — the clean house, the Pinterest-worthy lunches, the kid who's excelling at everything — is relentless. And the part that really gets me is that when we carry that pressure, our kids feel it too. It shows up in how they approach their grades, their sports, their friendships, how they look. They're always watching. Always absorbing.

Can we talk about the breastfeeding thing for a second? Because I have sat across from women practically puffing their chests about nursing until their kid's first birthday like they deserve a medal, while my milk ran dry at three months with two of my three kids. I don't get offended — truly. But there's a tone. You know the tone. The subtle "I did it better" energy that nobody asked for and nobody needs.

Ali, Book Aficionado from @The BookClubCart

Motherhood doesn’t need more pressure to...not get everything right.

It needs more permission to be human, to make mistakes, to change our minds, to learn as we go, and to give ourselves the same grace we so easily give our kids. Because being a good mom doesn’t mean getting it right all the time—it means loving our kids, showing up, and being willing to try again when we get it wrong.

Kim, Interior Designer from @Reverie.and.Root & Founder of Spilling Goodness

Motherhood doesn't need more pressure. It needs more permission to... dream.

When my kids were little, I felt like I had to put my goals on the shelf. I shifted out of goal chasing professional mode and into mom mode- feeling it was too hard for the two to mix. At first running gave me back my own goals new speeds, new distances. And, then I went back to design school. That was really hard for me - even though it was one class at a time.

Truth be told, my husband gave me the design school tuition for a Christmas present. He tried to call the college's registar to get a gift certificate, but turns out they don't offer gift certificates for tuition. That envelope of cash and a course catalog was a (not so) gentle shove into something I had wanted to do for a long time. I started learning and working towards a new education little by little. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't linear, but it was mine.

He and I will be the first people to support our kids with their goals. But, their goals are their goals. And, I will always be someone with my own goals.

Meet SOLEO. Located in Duxbury, Massachusetts, SOLEO is a maternal mental health and wellness center offering therapy, group support, and holistic services for women from pregnancy through the few years postpartum. They provide both clinical care, holistic healing and a strong sense of community.

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Motherhood doesn't need more pressure. It needs permission to...