Digital content creator Anneliese King is widely known on Instagram for sharing her raw and unfiltered thoughts on motherhood. We’ve collected some of her top insights to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down to take a peek.
Bored Panda reached out to Anneliese, and she was kind enough to tell us about the story behind her account, @sh**tymommymoments. She also shared why many of us feel pressured to be ‘perfect’ and what can help new parents when they’re feeling overwhelmed.
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Anneliese told Bored Panda that she created her Instagram account, @sh**tymommymoments, back when she was pregnant with her second child and her oldest was three years old. “I didn’t have a group of mom friends and felt like being a mom was extremely lonely and frustrating, which was the opposite of what I saw others seem to be experiencing on social media,” she told us via Instagram.
"There was one other account, @momsbehavingbadly, that I resonated with. So, I thought maybe I could create an account that is relatable to people like me? Maybe I’ll make some friends. Or at least have it be an outlet for venting," she opened up about the history of her super popular social media project.
We were curious to get Anneliese's thoughts on the added pressure of raising kids 'perfectly.' "Parents, and moms especially, feel a lot more pressure lately because we are INUNDATED with advice on how to be better and how to not 'continue the cycle,'" she said.
“While these are helpful, they can have a negative impact when all we see is all the ways we’re probably messing our children up because we said something like, ‘If you don’t come on, we’re leaving the park without you!’” the mom pointed out that the expectations set on social media are unrealistic and impractical.
According to Anneliese, new parents who feel overwhelmed by everything should not try to cherish every moment. From her perspective, a lot of these moments are bad.
"Create one time each day that is cherishable, even if it’s just the time you snuggle up and watch a movie. Cherish that hour or 20 minutes, and it’ll help you get through the harder ones. And it’ll be the time your kids remember most, too."
There are over 5 billion people on social media, according to Statista. With so many people spending a large chunk of their time online, it only makes sense that they’re at least partly influenced by the posts and videos they see.
When we’re constantly bombarded with images and clips of someone’s idyllic family life, it can feel like we’re failing as parents if our experiences don’t match theirs. We want to fit in. We want to be respected. We want to avoid being seen as failures. That’s why some people try to follow in these influencers’ footsteps without considering whether these parenting trends even benefit them.
But the reality is that the vast majority of parents are anything but failures. If you’re doing the best that you can to take care of your kids, you’re already a winner. If your children are fed, clothed, loved, and have a roof over their heads, you’ve got the basics down! Anything else that you do is a bonus.
In short, you should not feel like parenting is a competition. You do not have to sign your toddler up to four different preschool extracurriculars to be a good parent.
Similarly, it’s okay if your teenager doesn’t get into high-flying internships to prepare them for college admissions. And you’re allowed to heat up a frozen dish from time to time: crafting three gourmet, extremely nutritious meals every single day is exhausting.
Aiming only for affluence and trying to ‘keep up with the Joneses’ (or probably the Kardashians these days) is all about ego, not good parenting.
What your kids actually want and need is for you to spend quality time with them. Hide your smartphone, step away from all of your responsibilities, and focus on your children.
Play some games. Build some stuff out of Lego. Read some books. Talk about how cool science is. Go feed your local ducks in the park. Kick or throw a ball around. Or both! Go make some new friends or visit your relatives. Teach your kids some cool skills or show them the hobbies you care about.
There are countless ways to connect with your munchkins, but all of them require you to be present. No distractions! At the end of the day, what your kids are going to remember is having fun with their family.
Think back to your own childhood. The odds are that what pops into your head are the moments when you connected with your family doing something fun. The specific activity isn’t as important as the fact that it’s done together.
Anneliese King writes on her website that she first created her Instagram account as a way to normalize “the imperfect moments of motherhood.” These days are filled with bad moments, but this doesn’t make someone a bad parent. Her social media project is all about “supporting moms through laughter and real talk, and putting a stop to the notion that your house, your hair, or your mental health should appear perfectly intact at all times in order to be a good mom to your kids.”
The digital creator has a massive presence on social media. She has a jaw-dropping 409k followers on Instagram, as well as 15.5k fans on TikTok.
