Mother’s Day Musings
What a weekend.
This Mother’s Day Weekend was full of memorable moments. From a candlelit dinner at Stissing House, to massages and a night at Rhinebeck’s Mirbeau Inn with my husband, to a slow Sunday of bagels and gardening with Will, Zora, and my parents—it felt like we packed a lifetime of treasured memories into just a few days.
Of course, not everything made the Instagram cut:
The weekend began with a full-blown tantrum—flailing arms, long nails, and a scratch on my face deep enough to break the skin.
I realized that Friday night was the first time I had gone to bed without setting an alarm in over three years—not since my daughter was born. (Am I taking care of myself?)
And a car nap gone wrong ended in a full-on meltdown, complete with screaming the whole way home. (Massages? What massages?)
When we got back, my husband and I collapsed on the couch. I felt physically restored and emotionally full... and yet a little deflated that the weekend was over. That real life—emails, lunchboxes, deadlines—was already knocking.
Did I really feel ready to dive back in?
And then, my husband—who always seems to know when I need a lifeline—pulled up a post from Dr. Becky on Threads:
“Parenthood feels hard because it is hard. Not because you are failing.”
If you’ve followed Three Birch Hill for a while, you know I started this company during a season of postpartum depression. So much of my work—my “why”—is rooted in that search to reclaim myself, and in doing so, create something better for my family too.
And even though I’ve come so far in the past three years, there are still days when it feels like I am failing.
I should be able to juggle entrepreneurship and motherhood better.
It shouldn’t be so hard to soothe my own child.
I should give more of myself to my family… and still find a way to give more to my business too.
Even after a beautiful, picture-perfect weekend, I didn’t come back feeling like more. Not more energized. Not more capable.
And that’s okay.
Because here’s what I’m learning: Parenthood is hard. Even with all the love. Even with all the help. Even on the best weekends.
It’s complicated. It’s mercurial. It stretches you past the edges of who you were—and some days, it leaves you raw.
But it’s also beautiful. It’s memorable. And even on the hardest days, it remains my very favorite thing.
So if this Mother’s Day stirred up big feelings for you—joy, gratitude, exhaustion, sadness—you’re not alone. I see you. You’re doing an incredible job, even when it doesn’t feel like it.
And I hope you found even one small moment of peace this weekend.
You deserve it.