Do you ever feel like you have lower self-esteem after becoming a mom? Let’s assess–tell me if you have had any of the following thoughts recently:
I’m not good enough.
None of my clothes ever look right.
I’m not a very good mom.
I’m not as organized as the other moms.
I used to know what I was doing in life, but not anymore.
I’m not good at my job–I’m just fooling everyone and they’re going to find out the truth one of these days.
I used to be a lot smarter.
Motherhood has made me feel stupid, like I have no idea what’s going on in the world.
If I’m being honest with you, I have had all of those thoughts in the last 24 hours alone. Motherhood has changed me in so many profound ways, from how I feel about my appearance to how I spend my days. And unfortunately, not all of those changes have been incredibly empowering. I often feel like I have a lot lower self-esteem since becoming a mom, simply because I don’t always recognize myself anymore. Heck, I am a completely different person than I was when I became a mom almost 10 years ago. It feels like I went straight from being a kid to being middle-aged and I missed out on the whole “finding yourself” piece of adulthood that so many people talk about.
Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I entered motherhood quickly and had a lot of little kids in a short amount of time, with absolutely no time to catch my breath. But whatever it may be, I have struggled with lower self-esteem since becoming a mom. And if you are like me, you should know that we are not alone.
A study out of the Netherlands confirmed that we’re not crazy. Women really do experience having lower self-esteem after becoming a mother.
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