After 4 Nickleback songs, I laughed a bit, realizing I have a tendency to take myself and life too seriously and heeded the reminder to chill TF out and let myself be totally un-impressive.

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For the first few years of motherhood, I really wanted people to be impressed.
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I wanted my mom and grandma to be impressed by how I seamlessly transitioned from daughter to mother.
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I wanted my in-laws to be impressed with what an exceptional choice I was for their son and how flawlessly I carried life with an infant.
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I wanted my friends to be impressed with how I would just integrate a baby into my fun life.
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I wanted Instagram to be impressed with how naturally I proceeded with a homebirth and breastfeeding and co-sleeping and delayed vaccines.
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​(Pause. I wouldn't die on any of these hills so please don't confuse my new-mom crunchy obsession with how I now view early motherhood.)

It took me way too long to realize that trying to be impressive was exhausting me and totally cutting me and my needs out of the picture.

I don't think I really enjoyed motherhood with an even slightly calm nervous system until I realized I couldn't keep up with being impressive. It became too much. I lost more of myself that I imagine. I felt invisible and like I couldn't rest.
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And yes, some of this comes from the reality that society has unrealistic and unachievable expectations on new moms (and American capitalism loves that) but part of it was in my locus of control, I just didn't know how to detach my worth and worthiness from how damn depleted I was everyday for the sake of everyone else.
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Sigh.
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Now Enrolling: Confident Mom Reset If motherhood has slowly pushed you to the bottom of your own life, Confident Mom Reset is your way back. The next group starts May 10th. Early bird pricing ends April 30th. ​ Learn more + Register

Last week Mike and I found ourselves right outside of a karaoke night. We had picked up our favorite foods (we are suckers for the Whole Foods hot bar) and took it out to some picnic tables and just across the way, a bar was hosting the Karaoke night. I immediately noticed that, as karaoke should be, a lot of the people taking the microphone...sucked at singing. Or at least fell in the bottom half of a 1-10 scale. And they (and the crowd) were having so much fun.
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The temptation for me was to say "Oh that's fun, I remember when I used to karaoke regularly and I loved it. #memories.
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But instead, I got my name on the list and took the microphone with gusto when I had the opportunity. It wasn't impressive. But it felt good. Like, really good. To push the comfort a bit. To let eyes be on me (thankfully half-drunk and with an average age I'd say of 25 years old). It felt good to engage instead of pass by. It felt good to remember that yes I'm a mom but sometimes I'm also Chelsea on a date with her husband holding a corona in one hand and a microphone in the other.
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In my Confident Mom Reset groups, we work towards how these moms can see themselves more, make space for more of who they are in their own lives and relationships, and push the comfort zones. Here's what the last group had to say:
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"This is a safe space form moms who are committed to making motherhood better for themselves to think through what doesn't feel great and how to make it better."
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"It was empowering to reconnect with myself, set boundaries without guilt, and realize I’m not alone in this journey of motherhood."
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"It was energy giving during a time in my life where everything feels draining."
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If these are things you want to bring out in yourself, consider the next round of Confident Mom Reset. ​

PS: While you're on the website, grab any of our DIY digital downloads for free today using code EASTER, Happy Easter! (Good through midnight tonight)