It takes a village to raise a child…

Nope, pregnancy and motherhood are made to look easy. There’s the hassle-free pregnancy, the ‘pop-out’ birth, instant bonding, guilt-free and glamorous moments away from baby and peaceful nights. And there’s Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Loch Ness Monster and productive Fridays.

The reality is motherhood is hard. Whether you’re an expectant mom, a first time mom, a mom of a two, three, four or five kid household, a yummy mummy, an adoptive mom, an IVF mom or Mother Earth herself, motherhood is a minefield.

I’m proud mom to two adopted little miracles. Emma is almost three (she arrived home at three months) and our newbie is Ben. Only four weeks old. Even though I’m a second time mom this experience is completely new to me. Emma was a quiet, docile little girl without any ‘health’ problems. Ben on the other hand has reflux and screams a lot. In fact, I don’t recognize him with his mouth closed. It’s been a hard 10 days. The doctors tell you it’ll be fine. The books tell you what to do, how to do it and what the end result will be. They manage to leave out the gruesome bits in between. The tiny scrunched up bright pink face. The little vein that looks like it’s about to explode in his forehead. The endless screaming that goes on and on and on and leaves you feeling like a complete failure.

Books don’t give you the low down on the guilt, the anger, the depression and frustration you’ll feel. They won’t give you the 411 on what it’s really like BUT moms on Twitter, Facebook and their blogs will.