A while back I posted something about my kids, and a woman sent me a DM that has been quietly sitting in the back of my mind ever since. She said, it feels like you resisted motherhood for a while and now you've fully embraced it. What changed? And here's the honest thing. If that message had landed in my inbox two years ago, it would have sent me straight down a dark hole. It would have fed the mom guilt so well I'd have needed months to climb back out.So this one is me finally answering her, out loud. I had a very specific image of what motherhood would look like, and when it actually arrived, it looked nothing like the picture. I was exhausted. I was, if I'm being honest, bored. And I felt so much guilt for even thinking that, because everyone around me seemed to be glowing in exactly the season that was making me feel lost. I thought I was failing at the one thing I was supposed to be built for.What I've come to understand is the thing I most needed someone to tell me back then. Loving your children and feeling fully lit up by every single stage of raising them are two different things. You can adore your kids and still not feel like yourself in the baby years. That doesn't make you a bad mother. It makes you a human one. And some of us, it turns out, come alive in the chapters that come later.This is for the woman quietly wondering why she doesn't feel the way she was told she would. The one comparing her insides to everyone else's highlight reel. The one grieving the version of herself she was before, not knowing the best is still ahead of her. Nobody warns you that some seasons of motherhood just won't feel like yours. I'm telling you now, so you don't spend two years thinking something is wrong with you. There isn't. You're not alone.New episodes of Not Alone every Wednesday. Subscribe so you never miss one.Follow Valeria:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/valerialipovetskyTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@valeria.lipovetskyFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/valerialipovetskyblogFollow Not Alone:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notalonepodTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@notalone.podPodcast: https://www.notalonepod.com/Shop my look from this episode: https://shopmy.us/collections/7358472Amazon Storefront: https://www.amazon.com/shop/valerialipovetskyWhat we talked about:Disclaimer: The links in this description are sponsor or affiliate links. If you make a purchase through these links, I may earn a credit or commission at no additional cost to you.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices