Tired. Overwhelmed. Guilty. Those are the words moms use to describe themselves these days. Why is it that we are struggling so much to cope with mom life? Are we just being too hard on ourselves? Do we lack the confidence and self-belief in our mom skills? Or are we really not good enough? Trying to get some helpful answers, I’ve asked 100 moms if they are good moms or good enough moms. And the answers from these 100 moms, including 16 parenting experts, and of course myself as number 101, were quite an eye-opener. If you’re interested to know how they answered and get their best tips on how to take back control and be a calm and confident mom, then you’re in the right place.
If I asked you, are you a good mom or a good enough mom, how would you answer? It seems to be more difficult than first thought, to answer this truthfully. So I suggest you think about it for a moment, and while you do, let’s find out what the other 101 moms said. And the best part is, they didn’t only share their responses to our good mom question, but also voiced their best tips to help us feel less overwhelmed and more confident. And to sweeten the deal, they are giving away their best free resources to help us take back control and master motherhood.
101 Moms voted
Watch the Good Mom video below to find out how 101 moms answered our good mom question
As mentioned in the video this is what the results looked like, including our community moms and the expert parenting bloggers’ votes
The researcher in me, couldn’t avoid asking whether the numbers looked different amongst our parenting community members and the expert parenting bloggers? And it did indeed. Our experts voted
But why the difference?
And I believe it’s not because our expert parents are necessarily better moms. All though it’s surely possible. But I think the difference likely lies within the fact that parenting bloggers more often contemplate their worth as parents as they aim to help other parents succeed.
So it’s not just their measure that differs but their ability to do effective introspection and face realism. And I think they’ve learned how to lose the mom guilt and be more confident and give themselves some grace. And that’s why their advice here today is so valuable to help you not only transform your parenting skills but also help you trust in your abilities and start believing that you are indeed a good mom.
Meet the Parenting Experts
Time to meet the parenting experts and here’s a quick list of everyone included. Just click on their names to jump to their section and learn more about the great parenting work they do AND and grab their brilliant freebies to instantly boost your mom power.
Anne | Emma | Eva | Hokehe | Joanna | Lisa | Liz | Lori |Mel |
Melissa | Melody | Michelle | Rashmi | Sarah | Trish | Valerie
Lori is the author of Secrets of Supermom: How Extraordinary Moms Succeed At Work and Home & How You Can Too!
She is a wife, mom of four, and corporate executive who helps moms develop the skills, habits, and confidence to happily have it all.
Follow this expert blogger at SecretsofSupermom.com and learn how to parent with confidence and happiness. And discover the secret behind the ‘Lie of Balance’.
FREE GIFT
Get her free supermom secrets download.
Check out her book Secrets of Supermom: How extraordinary moms succeed at work and home & how you can too!
Sarah is a homeschool mom of two and an educator with over a decade of experience teaching kids in preschool through high school. Her passion is to help parents get started homeschooling with confidence. She shares tips to make homeschooling simple and fun.
You can follow this homeschooling expert from Homeschooling4Him.com when you’re ready to homeschool with confidence.
Trish is a mom of two kids who had “challenges” they now use as strengths in successful relationships and careers. She is the Founder of Brain Stages Parenting, coauthor of Brain Stages: How to Raise Smart, Confident Kids and Have Fun Doing It, veteran teacher, and science nerd, Trish shares kid-tested, research-supported tips to raise successful humans in our complicated world.
Follow this expert blogger from TheBrainStages.com and discover how to master brain-friendly problem solving with your kids.
FREE GIFT
Get her FREE Mini-course Enjoy Your Kids Through Problem Solving with coupon code 2021BESTYEARYET
Hokehe is a Board Certified Pediatrician helping parents of children with ADHD address the root causes of their children’s behaviors using integrative medicine. She leads Kits of Hope, a 501 (3) organization, sharing love, hope, and dignity with children in foster care. She has been featured in Authority Magazine, Business Insider, Buzzfeed, and Thrive Global
Dr. Hokehe is an expert clinician you can find at ADHDPracticalSolutions.com where she helps everyone develop a love for their super brain.
Eva is a civil engineering professor in Ecuador and the Netherlands, wife, and mom of a cheeky 3-year-old. She blogs about academic life and advice for PhD candidate, and recently worked on a project studying the impact of COVID-19 on academic parents.
Eva is an expert blogger at EvaLantsoght.com and will help you balance career and family life.
VISIT
Visit her blog for tips and resources.
This multicultural family aims to foster cross-cultural connections. They raise their boys to embrace their layers of identity, take pride in their ancestry, and see not only the difference but what’s shared. Travel is a huge part of teasing that out.
Michelle is the expert blogger from SilvasTravelTribe.com sharing multicultural family support and teen identity development tips to help you raise well-balanced kids.
Liz applies the frameworks of business psychology to the chaotic worlds of parenting and small business. During naptimes, Liz is an author speaker, consultant, and principal of three companies. The other 23 hours, she is the happily sleep-deprived mom of a baby boy, a toddlernado, and a teenager.
Liz is the expert blogger at TheStaySaneMom.com and will help you with tips on how to create intrinsic motivation in your kids.
VISIT
Visit her blog for freebies, tips, and resources.
Rashmi is a wife, a mom of two kids under 2 years & a Business Consultant by profession. She spends her day wiping butts, picking up on toys, cooking baby-friendly meals, entertains her toddler and wonders if her MBA skills can anyway help in managing the mess! When she finds some time between laundry and toddler tantrums, Rashmi seeks opportunities to connect with other moms in finding ways to make life easier.
Rashmi is an expert blogger at SchnoogleForMoms.com where you can find motherhood tips and baby food recipes.
VISIT
Visit her blog for more tips and resources.
Anne provides fellow busy and overwhelmed moms in the trenches of motherhood with tips, tricks, recipes, and products that can save them a little time and sanity. Her purpose at Easier Motherhood is to make her readers’ job as Mom a little easier, and a little less exhausting.
Anne is the expert blogger at EasierMotherhood.com where she helps you overcome mom overwhelm.
Emma is a multi-preneur and British mum of two children. They currently live in Spain, but have also lived in Costa Rica and Australia. Inner Expat is all about navigating the ups and downs of living abroad. Helping uncover and resolve the realities of being an expat.
Emma is an expert intentional parenting blogger at InnerExpat.com where you will learn intentional parenting strategies.
VISIT
Visit her blog for more tips and resources.
Joanna helps parents build relationships through effective communication. She’s a certified Positive Discipline educator; a trainer, coach, and mediator in the spirit of Nonviolent Communication; a parenting coach and advisor; a teacher, and most importantly a mother of two great children, who have taught her much more than all the studies, seminars and training she has completed!
Follow this expert parenting blogger at JoannaStawska.com and discover tips on handling emotions and effective communication.
As a past elementary school teacher, Melissa continues her passion for teaching by raising two children with Montessori philosophy and helping them learn and develop through fun educational activities and practical life experiences. You can follow her Instagram account “Montessori In Mind” and join their journey!
Mellisa is the expert behind fostering independence through child-led practical life activities.
VISIT
You can join her on Instagram for tips and resources.
Lisa is a mommy to 3 little girls (who are all under 4 years old!), wife to her wonderful husband and a primary school teacher. She has a passion for helping children reach their potential and equipping moms to help their kiddos effectively.
Lisa is the expert parenting blogger at LearningWithConfidence.com where she will help you with education and development strategies.
Melody is a new mom with a passion for travel. Her blog provides expert tips, tricks, and resources for fellow over-planners and people with travel anxiety.
Melody is the expert travel blogger at JitteryJetsetter.com helping you travel with confidence.
VISIT
Visit the blog for great tips and resources.
Melanie has spent the last thirty years as a mother and teacher- preschool through middle school. When her kids became teenagers, she started keeping notes and doing research to help her children get a head start on getting into college and ultimately out into the real world.
Melanie is the expert blogger at ParentingHighSchoolers.com and will help you learn how to use scheduled, intentional conversations to parent your teens.
Valerie is a wife, mom, and early childhood educator turned stay-at-home mom. She worked most of her career in private non-traditional (Montessori, Reggio-inspired, Project-based) preschools. She has a Masters in Early Childhood Education and a Bachelors in Human Development. With her experience and education, she hopes to inspire other families and caregivers to think creatively about how they play with their children and spread the joy of play-based learning.
Valerie is the expert blogger at OutsideTheToybox.com and ready to help you master early childhood development and play.
In case you’re still on the fence about whether you are a good mom or a good enough mom, here is some more help. We now know that half of our parenting community included in the poll believe they are good moms and the other half believe they are good enough AND the majority of our parenting experts believe they are good moms. So let’s just spend a moment clarifying
What does it mean to be a good mom
Simply listing those adjectives like sleep-deprived, unhealthy, overwhelmed and exhausted is enough to make us feel even less in control. But we need to remember all though these words, define our days, it definitely does not define us.
But how do know if we’re really good moms? We can only answer after defining some good mom qualities. And this is what I think:
You’re a good mom if you believe in your own parenting skills and want only the best for your kids.
Yes, that’s it. I’m willing to bet that if you’re reading this post in an attempt to be an even better mom, you’re already a good mom. Because when we spend time and effort to improve our skills, it means we are aware of our efforts and how it impacts those around us.
And if you’re aware of the kind of mom you are, it means you probably already fulfill the most important good mom criteria like
Are you already doing all of these? To make sure you have all the reasons you need to start believing in your own parenting skills, AND help you build and strengthen these good mom qualities I have created a free Daily Good Mom Journal Prompt printable.
It will help you be an even better mom in just 30 days and includes
MY FREE GIFT
and it includes a
BONUS
cheat sheet with 21 peaceful ways to be a better mom
And when you’re ready to take it up a notch and be the awesome parent you know you can be, check out the Good Mom Challenge Journal. It will help you pursue your happy life AND be a good mom and even includes a free Happier at Home Mindfulness Journal.
Let’s summarize our Good Mom discussion
Hearing how many moms in our community are struggling to take control and believe in their parenting skills, urged me to figure out why we are being so hard on ourselves. And asking 100 moms whether they are good moms or good-enough moms led me to the conclusion that we are indeed trying to be perfect rather than good enough. It’s easy for us to feel overwhelmed and believe we’re bad parents. But as confirmed by the majority of our parenting experts, we need to
Start giving ourselves some grace.
Start believing in our mom skills.
And start practicing to proudly state and believe that WE ARE GOOD MOMS!
Are you in? Go grab your favorite freebies from all the expert parenting bloggers, including the 30-day journal prompt printable, and start being the good mom I know you are!
And as we conclude this good mom post, I want to leave you with some inspiration to add to your journal, so here are
My favorite good mom quotes
Save and share the Good Mom post
Save a copy of the good mom post on your favorite motherhood board on Pinterest and remember to share it with any other mom needing a bit of inspiration and support.
and let me know you’re favorite good mom quote and why you love it AND how this post has inspired you to be the best mom you can be.
Hi Estie and fellow mums,
Thank you so much for the opportunity to be part of this and to raise the important question about supporting and be compassionate with ourselves and being mums. Great to be part of this group too and create a supportive community in this journey of being a parent 🙂
Hi Emma, thank you for being a part of this Good Mom group supporting other moms. We need all the help we can get to learn how to be better parents and as you say, be compassionate with ourselves.
It’s such an important topic because we often doubt ourselves and our ability as moms. My biggest take away from this was that we need to give ourselves some GRACE and own our identity as a GOOD MOM. It was such a pleasure to be a part of this project and be part of this fabulous community of parenting experts!
Hi Lisa, thanks for joining us. Feeling overwhelmed so easily happens and it’s amazing how so many of the moms mentioned that we just need to give ourselves some grace! It confirms the truth in it.
I LOVED the video—so encouraging. Frankly, any mom taking the time to watch the video and read this post is a good mom. I’m looking forward to seeing the individual videos by all those experts to get new tips to try. Thanks for putting together this series!
I agree Trish and I’m also looking forward to sharing more good mom tips. Thanks for being a part of this.
I am so happy to have been a part of this project! I can’t wait to hear what people think and how readers define whether they are a good or good enough mom. I encourage moms to share!
Hi Lori, it was an absolute pleasure including you. 😊 You have an awesome supermom story to share and I hope all the moms visit your blog to discover your secret. PS. Your book was one of my favorite reads this year!
I’m so honored to have been included with this amazing group of Moms. Thank you for addressing this important topic- we are all Good Moms, we just sometimes need a reminder and confidence boost when stuck in the weeds of parenting!
Hi Anne, it was great having you. And you’re so right we’re all Good Moms!