I love being a mom. My son is the coolest, and raising him is the most important thing I will do with my life. Still, several months into the gig, I started to feel uneasy that my identity was now wrapped up in motherhood. I wanted more, and the guilt of that realization weighed on me like a rhinoceros sitting on my throat. Then I looked at moms like Chrissy, who take to heart the idea of filling their own cups first.
In addition to holding down more entertainment jobs than Ryan Seacrest, Chrissy's built a budding empire around her passion for cooking. And yet, she remains a powerful presence for her family. Yes, she does all this with a lot of help, and the average mama has neither the time nor the resources to hang with LL Cool J and prepare a gourmet meal before tackling a mountain of laundry. But consider yourself 100-percent seen if you sometimes long to feel like more than "just a mom."
I'm slowly recapturing the rest of myself by reengaging my creative side: writing, baking, auditioning for community theater productions, and more. Some days are harder than others (looking at you, teething), and some days self-care is watching garbage television instead of showering, but I definitely feel better when I take time to check in with myself.
