We've all been there, minutes into our kids' disastrous tantrums with no clue what to do about it and all our bad emotions about to boil over. Whether we're at home or struggling — and failing — to contain things in a public place, the "mommy meltdown" is a very real part of parenthood, even if we never really want to talk about it. One mom actually had the guts to film herself in the middle of a parenting crisis, but instead of congratulating her for her bravery and honesty, people were quick to shame her for her actions.
In a video posted on Facebook, mom Sarah Van Sickle is sitting in her car crying while her toddler throws an epic tantrum in his car seat.
"This is just a video for all the moms who feel like they're crazy people when their kids have gone crazy," she said. Van Sickle then panned the camera quickly to her son, Koa, in the back, giving the world a glimpse into what she was dealing with.
"He is hoarse from screaming bloody murder for the last 40 minutes and he did it yesterday and the day before," she explained. The mom said Koa even "bashed his head on the ground and has bruises on his head."
Even through the pain, tears, and bloody-murder screams from her son in the backseat, Van Sickle dropped some major truth bombs about the harsh realities of parenting. "When you feel like you're going insane, and that you're a failure as a parent, you just remind yourself that you are doing the best that you can and that you're normal," she said.
"Somebody, please tell me this is normal, to be so frustrated and feel so guilty at the same time," she said.
Van Sickle said that "mom life is hard, and it's not always easy." But that only makes it so much more important to cut through the bullsh*t and be unafraid to speak out about our frustrations. "Yes we put up cute pictures of our kids and awesome things, but this," she said, showing the toddler still screaming in the back, "this is real life, this is mom life."
Those tears and tantrums "are the stuff we fight through and we go through because these babies matter and because we love them," she added. "To any mom losing your ever-loving mind and keeps comparing yourself to moms that seem so perfect on social media, I'm here to tell you that this is what this is like. And it's okay, you're okay, and we're gonna make it."
With 3.9 million views and over 800,000 shares, Van Sickle's video has definitely reached viral status. But not everyone found comfort in it.
Her comments were flooded with people who attacked her for being a "bad mom."
Many people were critical of the fact that she wasn't comforting Koa in the video.
There were also a few calling her selfish for daring to need a moment or two to vent about her struggles.
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Not everyone tried to drag her, though. Plenty of moms really appreciated what Van Sickle had to say.
They were fully understanding of her admission that being a "perfect" mom isn't always attainable.
Anyone trying to shame Van Sickle completely missed the point of her video. Putting the pressure on moms to be strong but completely silent about their struggles, issues, and feelings does nothing but lead to a mountain of mom guilt. This mom got real as hell about what a train wreck motherhood is like sometimes and made other moms feel better about themselves in the process.
No amount of sh*tty comments or judgments can change that. "We're are doing the best we know how," Van Sickle said in the post accompanying her video. Every single mom "who feels like she’s losing her everloving mind … you're not alone, and NONE of us have it together."
