Moms hold up the world. It is deeply rewarding, and yet it can be completely exhausting on every level. You are everything to everyone, all the time. Chauffeur, referee, confidante, enforcer. Being a mom to a child with a brain-based difference, like ADHD, autism, or anxiety, can turn the temperature up significantly. It can feel like waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for another call home from the school, or another sleepless night. You give and give and then suddenly one day you wake up and your well is empty and you are running on fumes. Chronic stress or worry can wreak havoc on hormones and suddenly you feel…burnt out. Maybe you’ve been so invested in parenthood that you’ve put your own job, hopes, or goals on the backburner. 

We are all made up of mom parts who are each doing the best they can to keep the ship (the self) upright and to get our own needs met. Maybe it is an inner critic part or a scared part. The challenge is not the part, but the way we judge those parts. It is easy to get sucked into shame spirals when we don’t show up as our best self or fall short of our own expectations. Using the Mom Parts method as a framework, we can unpack this and begin to understand our different parts more, moving towards compassion, curiosity, and clarity.