A mother captured the rollercoaster of being a parent in an honest post where she admitted she no longer felt like “being a mummy”.
Joanna Dodge Scheuerman, from Illinois, US, explained she’d had a “grumpy day” where she didn’t want to make food, take the kids to school or do the laundry.
“I didn’t feel like being happy, I was miserable all day ” Scheuerman wrote on Facebook on Saturday 5 November.
“I wanted to close myself in a dark closet and feel silence and quiet for just one minute. I didn’t feel like being a mummy.”
But when she woke up the next morning and saw her husband and daughter curled up in bed together, her mood changed instantly.
“This morning I woke up and rolled over to this picture,” Scheuerman continued on Facebook.
“My heart. Moments like this are so easy to cherish, it’s so easy to choose happiness and love in beautiful moments like this.
“But real love chooses happiness in the ugly moments too. Real love chooses to cherish even in the frustrating moments.”
The mum urged other parents to “choose love, choose patience and choose to cherish”, even during the hard times.
“A time could come where those moments are taken from you, and you would only want to have them back,” she added.
Scheuerman’s post served as a reminder to other parents to embrace the daily struggle of parenting.
“I needed that today. Exactly what I needed in fact,” one mother wrote.
Another commented: “I just felt compelled to tell you how much of an inspiration this was to me. I am a single mum of two amazing little boys and I feel like I have more bad days than good sometimes.
“Today is one of those days that I’m struggling to keep it together for my boys. Keep it up. You inspire people you don’t even know exist.”