A letter to the hashtag #blessed about the overuse it gets on mummy instagram posts:

Dear #blessed. Please stop. You're exhausting! All the celebrity mothers and popular mummy bloggers posting their professional quality pics posed as ‘candid’ snaps, with coincidentally perfect makeup and lighting, hashtagging all over the place about their #blessedlife  – your making the rest of us feel like crap! 

Mum life is full of those #blessed moments. But there's way more #stuffthis moments or #notanothertantrum or #ewwmoregrossbodilyfluidinmyhair moments. Especially if your living with chronic pain. And while I'm sitting on the couch in my track pants without a scrap of makeup and hair unbrushed for two days, baby spew on my top and vegemite and pumpkin purée smeared into my pants, seeing these #blessed mums parading around in heels showing off their blow dried hair and children in perfectly presented outfits without a stain in sight, doesn't make me feel envious - it makes me feel exhausted. Those poor mums must be so exhausted trying to get that one perfect picture; keeping the baby from pulling their hair so hard they lose a big chunk, stopping their toddler from dropping into tantrum mode before they manage that perfect snap, keeping fingers out of eyes/nose/mouth/ear while posing with a smile that radiates #blessed.

I know from experience that traipsing around the neighbourhood asking your husband to take some insta worthy pics isn't much fun. The toddler gets cranky, the puppy is uncontrollable, and the baby is crying to be carried, and finally hubby declares ‘surely there's at least one good picture there!?’ and that's the end of that. I can only imagine how much worse it must be with all the pressure of your adoring followers to keep up that picture perfect impression of family life, as well as constant new glamorous pictures of your beautiful family.

Don't get me wrong – I feel grateful to have my children, especially because of how much pain I have been through just to bring them into the world. I cherish every moment, and I appreciate how much joy they bring to my life. But I'm also sleep deprived, in a lot of pain, covered in various food in both its predigested as well as regurgitated form, dealing with poop several times a day, negotiating with a toddler – and losing, trying to keep my house looking reasonable instead of a bomb site, and hoping I don't look too old or daggy while I’m doing it. All in vain though, cos let's face it – cruising around in trackpants with playdoh stuck in my hair is probably not going to win me any admirers. 

So #blessed, please stop. Enough. We all love our kids, we are all grateful to have them, but can we stop pretending that motherhood means looking angelic while wearing designer clothes, heels, perfect hair and makeup, and gushing about our kids. Being a mum is an amazing job, but it's not glamourous. So #enough. We're #exhausted. And covered in crap but too tired to shower. 

Sincerely,

Suzie #reallifemum

Here's what happens when you try to get a decent pic with the kids. Baby gets big sister in the eye with her finger and the whinging and complaining starts! End of photo shoot! #reallifemoments #notperfectandthatsok