Perfection Pending

By Meredith Ethington

  • My Books
    • The Mother Load
    • Mom Life: Perfection Pending – The Book
    • Free eBook: Sometimes Motherhood Sucks
    • How To Grow Your FB Following
  • Motherhood
    • Inspiration
    • Encouragement
    • Childhood
    • Humor
    • Parenting Memes
    • Friendship
    • Marriage
  • Kid Ideas
    • Recipes
    • Practical Tips
    • Babies & Toddlers
    • teens and tweens
    • The Elementary School Years
  • Mental Health
    • Mental Health
    • Anxiety
  • About
    • Favorite Posts
    • My Portfolio
    • Privacy & Disclosures

About Meredith Ethington

If you’re looking for the Perfection Pending blog, you’re in the right place! To read the blog and find my latest posts go here.

Meredith Ethington is an award winning writer, and published author of The Mother Load and, Mom Life: Perfection Pending. She’s also a mom of three kids residing in Salt Lake City, UT. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology, and is currently working on her Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. She began writing in 2007 as a way to document life as a new mom, but quickly realized that she had a passion for writing, and has turned it into her career.

Her blog, Perfection Pending, quickly grew in popularity, and her writing is viewed by hundreds of thousands every day that want to see the real side of motherhood and know that they are not alone.

In February of 2018, Meredith’s debut book, Mom Life: Perfection Pending was published through Absolute Love Publishing and debuted on Amazon as the #1 choice in the motherhood category.

In 2017, Meredith was honored at BlogHer as a Voices of The Year Award Winner for her piece on mental health called, Why I Take The Pill solidifying her place as an advocate for ending the mental health stigma. That piece along with the encouragement from her readers inspired her to write her newest book, The Mother Load that is all about taking care of your mental health while being a parent.

Meredith has freelanced for years for popular websites like Scary Mommy, The Huffington Post, Mamalode, Momtastic, Babble, CafeMom and has been published in Parents Magazine. Additionally, she co-founded Filterfreeparents.com and worked as the editor-in-chief for four years. She was also interviewed by The Wall Street Journal because of an article she wrote on friendship. She has been featured many times by The Today.com Parenting team as one of the funniest parents to follow on Facebook.

Meredith currently has a large social media following with over 400,000 followers and has appeared on local television, in newspapers, and magazines.

You can find Meredith on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter where she loves to commiserate with other moms who aren’t afraid to share photos of their messy houses, laugh at themselves, and admit that while parenting is the best thing ever, it’s also the hardest job on earth.

Want to contact Meredith? Please do so: fakingpictureperfect@gmail.com

See her Privacy and Disclosures here.


Grab one of these books by Meredith Ethington

The Mother Load

Mom Life: Perfection Pending; The Book

Here’s more from Meredith in her own words:

“There is one thing I know for sure, perfection is something unattainable when you’re a parent. So let’s stop forcing ourselves to be something we’re not.

In addition to writing and being a mom, I try to avoid mopping my floors for as long as possible, and have an ongoing battle with the unfolded laundry that’s always sitting at the foot of my bed.

I write first and foremost because I love it, and it’s my own personal form of therapy. Which means, that sometimes I overshare, and sometimes, I write about the ugly side of parenting. But, writing has helped me find joy in the everyday, and learn to be grateful for all that I have.”


Welcome! I’m Meredith.

Mom. Writer. Diet Coke connoisseur. Born and raised Texan. Lover of real talk and laughter with a hint of sarcasm mixed in.

The Mother Load

Perfection Pending on Instagram

perfectpending

Mom • Author • Mental Health Therapist In Training
Grab my new book, The Mother Load, available now. 👇👇

Meredith Ethington
SAME. @notfolu SAME. @notfolu
I feel like I’m failing. And today it was over I feel like I’m failing. 
And today it was over a loaf of bread. Freaking bread, man. 
My daughter came home from school for lunch and wanted a grilled cheese but we were out of bread. 
I knew we were out of bread and I thought I got bread in my grocery order last night but apparently I didn’t. 
This resulted in a short grumpy exchange where she stormed out and we both later apologized over text. 
Me for failing at having bread. 
Her for overreacting. 
I used to be so on top of meal planning and prep and keeping everyone’s favorite things stocked. 
Now I’m failing at it. 
I knew when I went back to school balls would be dropped. And apparently keeping track of the food is where I’m failing. I know I’m not failing at everything (my GPA is amazing) but failure still sucks when you’re used to doing something competently but your brain or body or whatever can no longer do it all. You’ve reached max capacity. 
They aren’t going to starve by any means and teenagers can go get their own bread. I know I know. 
But it’s always been my job. And now I just can’t do it the way I used to. 
It symbolizes the way all women inevitably fail when one. More. Thing. Gets added to our plates. 
The mental load is too much from the moment we become the wives and the moms. Honestly adulting feels hard these days in general. For my husband too. We frequently feel like we’re drowning in responsibility and tasks. 
A loaf of bread makes me feel like a failure. 
WHY does anyone sign up for this? 😅 
Anyway - maybe you’re not crazy enough to go back to school like me but one more thing still got added to your adulting plate and you know you will fail in one area or another. 
You will. 
It may not be the loaf bread like me but something will get dropped or forgotten. Mistakes WILL be made. 
The mental load is heavy. 
Let’s normalize failure ok? 
Not in all areas but in some when the load gets too heavy. 
Because this mama needs that reassurance right now. Maybe you do too.
😂💀 @nora.dominick 😂💀 @nora.dominick
My latest. ❤️ Link in profile. My latest. ❤️ Link in profile.
Working on figuring out my mission as we speak. ❤️
Is anyone else like this? #dietcokeaddict #pebblei Is anyone else like this? #dietcokeaddict #pebbleice #adhd #momlifebelike
Hello friends, it’s me. Meredith. Here are a f Hello friends, it’s me. Meredith. 

Here are a few things I’d tell you if I could call you all up: 

❤️ It’s ok to say no to things.

❤️ Your kiddos don’t need perfection - they need real. Emotional, Messy, flawed, etc. It helps them know their emotions are valid. 

❤️ Having anxiety or depression does not mean you’re an inadequate parent. 

❤️ Never be ashamed of asking for help or going on medication if necessary. 

❤️Kids can be draining. Take time for yourself. I promise you’ll be able to be a better, more present parent if you do this. 

❤️ Boundaries are your friend. People that make you feel like you’re not enough are not. 

Hang in there. It doesn’t get easier - like at all. But you get stronger.
I wrote this a few years ago. It helped me process I wrote this a few years ago. It helped me process feelings of never measuring up and feeling lIke someone else would do it better than me. 
I don’t feel like this very often anymore. But I know that there are plenty of mothers out there that do. You aren’t alone. 
The experience of Motherhood is definitely something that humbles even the most confident mothers. 
I wasn’t one to have much confidence once I began but I got there eventually. 
If you’re in this headspace of wondering if you’re enough I’m here to tell you:
1. You are. 
2. This is NORMAL. 
3. This post is for you. 
Read it on my substack now and consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. ❤️ It supports me as I hopefully support you.
I certainly didn’t. @a.mom.uncensored I certainly didn’t. @a.mom.uncensored
I see nothing wrong here. I see nothing wrong here.
Still not there yet. 😑 #ikea #momlifebelike #ik Still not there yet. 😑 #ikea #momlifebelike #ikeahack #jokesfordays
This was my mom’s desk when she was little. At s This was my mom’s desk when she was little. At some point it got passed down to one of her grandchildren. Then it made its way to my house and all three of my kids have used it too. 
My middle decided he was done with it and I had no idea what to do with it. It’s almost an antique at this point and I knew my mom felt sentimental about it. It’s heavy and tiny but it has good bones as they say. 
My mom lives too far away to come get it and the grandkids are all getting too big to want this desk in their rooms. 
I walked around my little house looking for a spot for it. There really isn’t one. 
Could it be an end table? Or swapped out for an entry table? 
But then I walked into my bedroom and saw this bare wall. It’s not ideal. My husband will hate it. But I’ve been thinking that I needed a study spot in my house (in a room with a door that shuts and locks) since I’m in school again at 46 years old. 
I’m hilariously too big for this little desk but also it seems just fine for sitting and writing papers. 
The older I get, the more I realize that this life is short and I’m sure it will make my mom happy to know I’m not only hanging onto this desk a little while longer but it’s going to be used for actual school work again instead of hoarding useless scraps of paper, half filled notebooks and dull crayons no one has touched in years. 
I’m breathing life back into this desk for a few more years and it seems symbolic of my taking something old (me) and using it for something new (becoming a therapist). 
I’m not super sentimental about furniture but I’m sentimental about the people that I love. 
She loves this desk so I guess I’ll love it a little longer on her behalf. ❤️
🚨Vulnerable post alert! My latest on substack: 🚨Vulnerable post alert! My latest on substack: "I feel depressed that it’s back, when I had been handling things so well.
I feel hopeless that although I know it will end, that it will come back again.
I feel embarrassed that I’m sometimes mean to the ones I love most.
I feel like I want to give up.
I feel tired.
I feel overwhelmed by the tiniest thing.
I feel alone. I feel like I’m literally the only one feeling that way in that moment even though I know I’m not deep down. But, anxiety makes me feel like that.
I feel like I just would be better off if I could disappear."
First day back after a week long vacay to the fun First day back after a week long vacay to the fun of carpool and the reality of being a responsible adult is kicking my boot-ay. Can you tell? 😅
Yup. 😂 @themumcrew Yup. 😂 @themumcrew
Best thrift find ever. 😂 Best thrift find ever. 😂
Mental health matters. ❤️ Mental health matters. ❤️
You get the full tour if you’re my friend. You get the full tour if you’re my friend.
Because apparently it belongs to no one. 😑 Because apparently it belongs to no one. 😑
Just like building muscles in our body, to have go Just like building muscles in our body, to have good mental health we need to build muscles in our brains as well. What does that look like? 

For me, it often looks like practicing things that make me uncomfortable. 
Saying no. Setting boundaries. Sitting in discomfort with feelings I don't like. Being OK if someone is mad at me. Learning to validate MYSELF. You get the idea. 
But, really it can be anything that you need to work on but makes you feel REALLY uncomfortable. So much so that it feels like your brain is literally rejecting it. If you want to build that muscle in your brain that is OK with disappointing people in favor of your own mental health, you have to treat it like muscle building in your body. 

1. Do it often enough. 
2. Start small, and work your way up. 
3. Go heavy when you're ready. 

Practicing it often enough is really when you're going to get big results. Soon you'll get used to those negative feelings that come along with telling someone no and knowing they're disappointed. You'll build up endurance to tolerate the feelings and be able to sit with them and let them go. And finally, it will become second nature to you to do all those things you didn't think you could do. Just like strength training for a marathon - consider strength training for your mind. 

One thing I'm working on is telling myself I'm OK. I struggle with seeking validation from others when really I need to be seeking validation from myself. Because MYSELF is good, worthy, and OK 99% of the time. 

What are you practicing right now? I'd love to hear if this is true for you.
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