My dream to connect with moms about real issues and impact moms’ lives through the written word goes way back to 2003. I’d already been dreaming for months, but on that day, September 29, 2003, I began writing some of those visions in a journal I stored away all these years.

The visions were plentiful. The topics I brainstormed about moms, for moms? Boundless.

Time passed.

And there were lots of journal entries in-between.

Four years later, on March 11, 2007, appeared another journal entry with clarified vision. If I could show you those three pages, you’d see, the vision continued to be plentiful. My goal was still the same, but it was taking shape. I wanted to get real with moms, I wanted to tap into their deepest needs, their deepest longings, their deepest joys and sorrows along their mothering journey. I wanted to be an advocate for moms. And I had a million ideas how I’d do that through writing and other means. (Well, maybe not quite a million!)

Among the “millions” of ideas was this…

Special Moms

I listed a whole host of who those special moms might be – single moms, special needs moms, moms of multiples, moms living in poverty, immigrant moms, moms with husbands who travel a lot – you name it.

Fast forward to January 2010. I was tired of dreaming all this up and never acting on it, so I bought a domain and started a blog titled Perfectly Unbalanced Supermom. There was just one problem! I spent hours getting the blog ready, but never once published a post. It sat empty for two years before I finally let the domain expire.

Somewhere along the way I’d realized – the vision was broader than moms. Not to mention, I’d grown a strong hatred of anything Supermom, so I couldn’t bare the thought of having it as my permanent blog name!

So I moved on.

I launched this blog, which was much more in line with the broader vision, and let Perfectly Unbalanced Supermom expire.

The only thing is that my heart for moms never went away. I wanted to write about real moms from untraditional angles.

So in May 2013, I launched my first Mother’s Day series titled Special Mamas. (Remember that Special Moms topic I’d brainstormed back in March 2007? Yep, a bit of that dream was coming true!)

Special Mamas 2013 was a big success, everything I planned and dreamed it to be.

All year, I planned a second annual Special Mamas series for May 2014. There was no stopping me. This was going to be an annual gig!

I’d gone so far as to secure my first guest writer for Special Mamas 2014. She was all in, and I was honored to have her as part of the series.

But here’s the thing…

One month later, she wrote me with these truths from her heart about mothering (a lot of details have been removed to ensure this special mama’s trust and privacy, because I’m hoping she’ll still write for me in the future):

“This…has just really, really been difficult. [I’m]…not even close to the kind of mother I wanted to be. Sure, there are plenty of great times…but with each of those successes is a lot of stress, frustration…and even myself not being the person I wanted to be. I feel as if the article would be a lie. It’s kind of hard to explain and I want you to know I’m grateful to you for thinking of me…I hope you are able to find someone else.”

Wow.

It was then that I knew – I wasn’t going to run Special Mamas 2014.

Yes, there are thousands upon thousands of mommy bloggers and mom blogs, but clearly this real life mama stuff hasn’t been covered enough. Clearly, we haven’t supported our mamas enough. Clearly, there’s room for letting moms know, hey, I’ve been there too. You’re not alone in this. This is tough stuff. This raising human beings? This is hard work.

It was then that I ditched Special Mamas 2014 and knew immediately the title of the new series.

Motherhood Unraveled

I took a few minutes, literally, to brainstorm topics I could cover in the series…

When You Feel Like You’re Spinning Your Wheels

When Your Life Always Feels Like a Mess

When You’re Desperate for a Moment Alone

When Your Kids Act Like Brats

When You’re Tired of Mac-n-Cheese and Chicken Nuggets

When You’ve Done Just About Everything Before 9:00 a.m.

When Evening Strikes and You’re Just DONE

When Something Breaks and You’ve Just Had It

When You Just Need a Little Help

When You’re Tempted to Live Vicariously Through Your Children

When You Need to Hang With Other Mamas

When You Can’t Find Your Place at Home or at Work

When You’ve Gotta Feel Like Yourself Again

When You Wonder if You’re Doing It All Wrong

Yep. There was no doubt in my mind.

This was the series.

I understand – it’s potentially a little racy, as in vigorous, lively, spirited.

I understand – it’s potentially a little controversial, as in not everyone will love or relate to the words I write.

I understand – it’s potentially a little negative, as in I’ll be aware of balancing pain and truth with hope and beauty.

But I also understand – this series has the potential to impact moms with words of encouragement, to let you know you’re not alone on this journey of motherhood, to let you know that none of us are the mother we thought we’d be.

And maybe in the end, we’ll rest in these truths – that while most of us are not the mother we thought we’d be – we are much wiser than we thought we’d be, we are much more resilient than we thought we’d be, we are much stronger than we thought we’d be, and we are more understanding and forgiving than we thought we’d be.

So let’s connect, moms. Let’s get real together. Let’s share truths together, and let’s share joys together. Because this motherhood thing is hard, but it’s oh so filled with beauty, too.

Starting next week, we’ll dive right in. I’m ALL in. There’s going to be a lot of writing, and in order to get it all in and make it all work, I’m going to work hard to keep my posts shorter than normal.

As with other series I’ve run in the past, this post will serve as home base. All of the posts in the series will be listed right here, below. The Motherhood Unraveled graphic will be on the right sidebar of my blog. Click it any time, and it’ll bring you back here.

So let’s go. Will you join me? I’m ready to get real, and I’m doing it for that Special Mama who believes she’s “not even close to the kind of mother [she] wanted to be.” I’m doing it for you.

Let’s unravel this thing called motherhood and find all its silver linings.

When You Need Your Baby’s Life to Count for Something Big

When Your Life as a Mama Doesn’t Seem Compatible With Your Dreams as a Woman 

When You Just Need Someone to Tell You You’re a Good Mom

When It’s 8:30 p.m. and You’re Just Done Being a Mom

When You’re Desperate to Discover the Secret to Enjoying Your Kids

When You Just Have to Bless the Mess

When You Realize Motherhood Isn’t an Opportunity to Live Vicariously

When Even an Ounce of Brat Behavior Makes You Realize Motherhood is Serious Business

When You Realize Your Babies Aren’t Babies Anymore

When You’re a Single Mom Who’s Living with Mental Illness

Amy