My New Heartbeat: Let’s Drink a Toast To Hot Mess Moms

Katie Saltz with CeCe & Ezra

The illusion of the “perfect mom” is officially shattered. I’d like to thank the Internet for this wonderful revelation. If you are a fan of “Scary Mommy” or “The Honest Toddler,” …

… you know that entire websites are dedicated to “Hot Mess Moms.”

Everyone knows a Hot Mess Mom. Many of us consider ourselves to be one.

It’s incredibly liberating to see women embrace the imperfect side of motherhood.

So many of us are letting go of the pretense that we have it all together.

We admit we sometimes sniff a pair of our kid’s jeans and determine they are worthy of one more day of wear.

We brazenly drop off our store-bought cookies at the school bake sale, leaving the “Sale” sticker right on front.

We Pin a hundred healthy crock pot meals but still end up in the drive-thru for dinner.

What fascinates me about the Hot Mess Mom is the rose-colored glasses through which we see each other.

I see moms in the school drop-off line and I wonder how they manage to get their hair and make-up done so perfectly.

Meanwhile, I have wet hair and yesterday’s mascara under my eyes.

I feel like I’m wearing a Scarlet H, labeling myself the Hot Mess Mom of the day.

But then I realize another mom may be behind me in line wondering how I always remember to return books on library day or to pack gym shoes for P.E.

She doesn’t notice my wet hair and my raccoon eyes, like I don’t notice her kid’s lunchbox is full of leftover pizza.

Hot Mess Moms have waved the white flag in the “Mommy Wars.”

We don’t have time to argue about appropriate screen time or the mortal dangers of jarred baby food.

We’re too busy trying to keep our sanity because parenting is hard.

Instead of sitting in playgroups and trying to one-up each about our kid’s achievements, we like to share a bottle of wine and bond over how sticky our kitchen counters are. And we are in no rush to clean them.

Cheers to the Hot Mess Moms.