To You, The Mother On Social Media

To You,

The other mother on social media.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

You do not know me, not really, we have only ‘connected,’ online but you have changed me.

Changed me as a person, as a woman and as a mother.

I can never repay you for what you have unlocked in me.

You made me feel normal, when I wanted to scream, to cry, to shout that I can’t do this anymore.

I regained my sanity when speaking to you, and saw I was normal.

You made me feel like it was okay to feel like a complete failure when the baby had colic and cried for three days straight.

That it was alright I hadn’t washed my hair and was covered in sick.

To be proud when I achieved something that seemed so small to many like getting out of the house, or putting my make up on.

That yes, my house is also covered in toys and when the baby was napping, I didn’t tidy, I ate a packet of Oreos instead.

You shared a small insight into your life, one photo, uploaded it and sent out there into the world of social media. You may have thought it was nothing.

It wasn’t nothing to me, it was hope.

Hope that I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling like this.

That I could and would laugh again. Even about the poonami explosion in Costa on our first trip out as a family.

You made me realise I wasn’t alone.

In turn it became more than a double click, it became a comment, a DM, a friendship, a meeting.

My life changed the day you put up that photo of your family walk gone wrong with a face planted toddler on the floor and a screaming baby in the carrier. It changed because even with all of that you were smiling. You were happy. You were laughing.

You gave me the strength to do this, to share my ups, my downs.

To you, the other mother on social media, I thank you for being there.

Always.