This Photo Is the Realest Look at Motherhood You'll Ever See

Social media can trick you into thinking being a mom is sunshine and rainbows 24/7, but the reality is far from it. Before the rainbow can come, there’s one heck of a rainstorm you have to make it through first.

And that is what motherhood is really like.

Jazmyne Denise Futrell, the blogger behind Mixed Mom Brown Babies, recently shared a photo on Instagram that sums up parenthood in a nutshell. The snapshot shows Futrell simultaneously giving her four children a piece of her attention, all while trying to get dinner on the table before the night is over.

It’s as real as it gets.

In the photo, the multitasking mom is using one arm to stir up dinner on the stove, while she uses her other arm to hold and breastfeed her baby. Not to mention her son tugging at her shirt, likely in need of some homework help. To top it off, her daughters are camped out on the floor right below her, because who needs breathing room anyway?

“I am a hot mess most days,” the mom says in a comment to a follower. “When [my husband] walked in and saw, he said he had to capture this for me. It made me proud to know, even when I feel like things are hectic and crazy, I can still handle them.”

That’s what being a parent is all about—constantly feeling like you’re caught in the middle of a circus act, but always managing to hang in there until the final bow. Because motherhood is far from easy, but it is so worth it.