One of the most meaningful things I do through my work is talking to moms about their greatest joys and challenges raising kids. I’ve talked to lots of different moms, gathered their pearls of wisdom, and shared them on my weekly blog posts.

Yesterday I met with mom blogger Ryan Hargrave, author of the blog Loved and Lovely, and mom to two-year-old Grace.

Ryan was refreshingly honest about the struggles she faces as a mom, but added that it's beautiful and hard in the best way possible.

One thought really struck me. When I asked her what her biggest fear was as a mom she said,

“I worry that I’ll be the reason my child ends up on some therapist’s couch.”

We laughed, but that’s the truth!

As a mom, your biggest fear it that your child won’t be happy. But you also recognize that you don’t have the control over that. You can do as much as you can, but it’s not completely in your control, Ryan says. 

So many of the moms I work with worry that they just aren’t doing a good enough job raising their kids, or that something they say or do will screw them up. 

In our world, there is so much pain and heartbreak and you don’t want your child to experience that, which of course they will.

But every mom wants their kid to have a fairy tale childhood.

Ryan says the best piece of advice she’d give to a mom-to-be is to do as much as you can to live in the moment, because you’ll miss it when it’s gone. The good stuff is right now, not in the future.

See the beauty in what you have today.

Mom, how do you live in the moment? Do you worry your child won't be happy?