By Guest Blogger Ginny Olson

I’m more of a #PinterestFail kind of mom and proud of it.

How about you? Are you super crafty and the best chef ever, with an always-spotless house? If that’s working for ya, go forth and prosper.

For the rest of us, here’s a virtual HIGH-FIVE!

And 20 reasons to celebrate why it’s great to be a perfectly imperfect mom. Which is pretty much the only way to survive these days.

  1. You put your kid to bed in tomorrow’s clothes. Because less laundry.
  2. You only buy organic when it’s on sale at the Walmart.
  3. You think monogramming means writing your kid’s name on his underwear with a sharpie.
  4. You run out of tissues and tell the kiddo to “use your shirt sleeve – just this once.”
  5. You think the best uniform for a Zoom call is a necklace, fancy shirt, pajama bottoms, and slippers.
  6. Your idea of eating out is grabbing a couple peanut butter sandwiches and sitting on the front lawn.
  7. You look forward to the next box of hand-me-down clothes from the neighbor kid. Because vintage.
  8. You bathe the kiddos once a week and sponge them down with a wet wipe the rest of the time.
  9. Your homeschooling lesson for English class is asking the kids to read the directions on a box of brownie mix.
  10. You wear the same t-shirt and jeans the entire weekend and then again the weekend after that. And maybe a couple days in between. Because less laundry.
  11. You think exercise is vacuuming up the Cheerio explosion in your car.
  12. Your idea of lawn care is cultivating dandelions and clover. Also, bees. Because nature is great.
  13. You feed the kids three variations on cheese for dinner: mac ‘n cheese, grilled cheese, string cheese.
  14. Your list of chores for the children involves dusting their Lego sculptures that are prominently displayed on the mantel.
  15. Your homeschooling lesson for math class is having the kids count to 100 during a game of Hide ‘n Seek.
  16. You collect the unloved toys in the house to re-gift at Christmas.
  17. You send your children on a treasure hunt for sticks in the yard to get 10 minutes of alone time.
  18. You save the discarded bread ties. Because future art project.
  19. Your idea of family time is everyone gathered in the same room. Maybe talking, maybe not.
  20. You think perfection in motherhood means overflowing LOVE, not the quality of your Instagram photos.

Here’s to all the perfectly imperfect moms out there! Let’s unite (remotely) and brace ourselves against the trappings of the must-be-perfect mom-world. Because the only thing our little ones really need is for us to LOVE them like there’s no tomorrow.

Now, go group-hug your kiddos. (Or maybe not if their hands are covered in peanut butter. Because less laundry.)

Ginny Olson is the author of the blog MothersRest.com, a love letter to moms, both new and seasoned, journeying from sleep deprived to joy-arrived. When not riding-herd over two small male children, Ginny works full time at a global nonprofit that specializes in leadership development and teaches Marketing for Nonprofits at the local university. Ginny has been featured in Glamour magazine, the Greensboro News & Record, Piedmont Parent, and Triad Moms on Main, as well as several mom blogs. You can follow MothersRest on Facebook.

Want to see more blogs like this and also get notifications on local events and happenings? Subscribe to our free weekly newsletters here.