Perfection Pending

By Meredith Ethington

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  • Mental Health
    • Mental Health
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  • About
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Family Humor In the Motherhood JD Manic Mondays Motherhood Parenting Uncategorized

I’m Aiming for Boredom One Day. Manic Mondays Blog Hop #11

My husband is editing home videos of ours. Get this: He’s almost up to date!!! Commendable right? Well, he came into me the other day when I was falling asleep to a riveting episode of Dateline, and asked me if I minded if he sped up the Christmas morning video clip to 1.5 times the […]


13 Comments

Guest Bloggers Motherhood

Be Brave and Guest Blog For Me

Once upon a time, I was brave. But, then I became a Mom and all of that seemed to evaporate. But, I am learning how to re-define bravery. It can come in many different forms and bravery may look a little different for each of us. Read all about what I think Bravery looks like […]


37 Comments

appetizers or make it a meal Recipe

Cheesy Chicken Enchilada Dip or Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I poked fun of myself recently saying I could never be a food blogger, but I sure am going to keep trying to share recipes anyway! Last night, I wanted to make my Dad’s chicken enchiladas for dinner. My Dad did a lot of the cooking when I was a kid, and there are few […]


19 Comments

Family Humor In the Motherhood Manic Mondays Motherhood Parenting Uncategorized

Is “Time Out” Out? Manic Mondays Blog Hop #10

I am late to the party as usual, but I recently read an article informing me that time outs don’t work and are actually harmful to the child. Wait. What?!! I thought beating your kids didn’t work. I was completely flabbergasted to find out that there are LOTS of parents that think time out doesn’t […]


39 Comments

Family Gratitude Motherhood Parenting

A Life Being Lived Before My Eyes

Sometimes, I look at my kids and just see them through new eyes. The enormity of what I’m doing hits me with full force when I realize that they are living little tiny lives, experiencing things. They are having memories imprinted forever. Sometimes, I look at them, and get a tiny glimpse of what the […]


6 Comments

Humor In the Motherhood Motherhood Parenting Perfection Uncategorized

20 Basic Human Rights Moms are Denied Daily

As much as I want to go on and on about letting ourselves just “be” human instead of beating ourselves up all the time, and putting so much pressure on ourselves to wear cute clothes to the grocery store, the absolute truth is we have little tiny humans running the show. Tiny humans that don’t […]


13 Comments

In the Motherhood Manic Mondays Motherhood Parenting

They Missed Me. Manic Mondays Blog Hop #9

This post is going to be short, sweet, and a little sappy. Not typical for my normal Manic Mondays posts. Saturday night, I got struck out of nowhere with a horrible stomach bug. Luckily, I was the only victim. But, it’s the sickest I’ve been in a long time. I didn’t sleep much that night, […]


15 Comments

appetizers or make it a meal Humor Motherhood Perfection Recipe

5 Reasons I’ll Never Be a Food Blogger.

Every once in a while, I like to share recipes on my blog. Because I really do like to cook. And, I’ve had a few recipes that have been pinned a few times, which brings traffic to my blog. Win win, right? But, today, as I was attempting to photograph another food item for another […]


27 Comments

Childhood Learning Motherhood Parenting Perfection

“It’s Not Fair!” What I Want to Teach My Kids About Those 3 Words.

The “It’s not fair!” routine. It happens in every house, I’m sure. My 7 year old has mastered this charade. Everything is not fair. EVERYTHING. The fact that she couldn’t find the exact coloring book she wanted to take to church today, and chose to take nothing was “Not fair!” because her brothers had exactly what […]


11 Comments

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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. 👇👇

Night night! 😤 Night night! 😤
If you missed my last post about how raising teens If you missed my last post about how raising teens can wreck you mentally….wellll this is part of the reason why. So lonely! But we are in this together somehow. 😂 Make sure to check out my latest substack and grab a copy of my book —- The Mother Load!
NEW ---> "When there are problems in these big kid NEW ---> "When there are problems in these big kid years, it’s no longer really acceptable to call a friend and air the annoyances of the situation. At least not the specifics.

Sure, you can commiserate with a fellow parent about teenagers being the worst.

But, to be honest - they’re not the worst. They’re kind of amazing. But their problems make me tired to my core." 

Read the latest on my substack. I promise you'll relate. ❤️
So sweet. ❤️ Follow me @perfectpending and bet So sweet. ❤️
Follow me @perfectpending and better yet buy my book or subscribe to my substack to support me.
"I don’t know about you, but I don’t really wa "I don’t know about you, but I don’t really want same-ness anymore. I want messy. I want admissions that shit is hard and we don’t have it all together. I want to have a makeup free, messy bun in my sweats run in with a mom friend and not feel worried she’s checking out my un-groomed eyebrows.

I don’t want to try to give off this illusion that I’m control of my life any better than the next person. It’s a shitshow for all of us, and we continue to hide it for fear of what? Being human?"

Read the rest on my Substack. Link in profile.
WHAT IF THIS IS THE HAPPIEST I’LL EVER BE AND I WHAT IF THIS IS THE HAPPIEST I’LL EVER BE AND I MISS IT? What if I miss the best time of my life. What if it’s right this second?
What if it’s right now while I’m in finals week of grad school, and have a kid that’s sick? 
I already miss so much. The gummy smiles of babes without any teeth. The squeaky voices of 2 year olds. The babbling of a baby that’s just trying so hard to say mama. The grammar mistakes my kids make when they’re talking that I don’t have the heart to correct because I love it too much. 

I miss a lot about those younger years that have already slipped away. My youngest is sick, much like in this picture, but he is too big to snuggle in my arms now when he’s running a fever. 

Today I had the thought, what if this is it? What if this IS the happiest I’ll ever be?
For a moment, I lingered in that thought as I stood over my sink and did the dishes. I started to cry.
Am I missing it? AM I? I felt a tug that maybe I was. Maybe I wasn’t relishing enough, and enjoying enough, and being present enough.
But, then I realized, it will never be ENOUGH. 

Read the rest in my substack ❤️
New year, same me. 😂 #mentalhealth #anxiety #de New year, same me. 😂
#mentalhealth #anxiety #depression
"I don't care" as I literally care about every sin "I don't care" as I literally care about every single thing.
I’ve got to admit - I’m kind of over all of th I’ve got to admit - I’m kind of over all of this. *sweeps arm generally at planet earth*

Look, I’ve never been a half glass full kind of gal. I can ALWAYS find the negative in every situation. 

But, right now it’s easy to say that I’m over it. It being.....

The state of our economy. Social media. People being unemployed. People being racist and homophobic. The debate over politics. People judging people. ALLLLLL of it. 

Everything is crap right now. We joke about it a lot. We have to in order to survive. 

It’s the one millionth day of January but Spring feels so far away. 

I’m over these four damn walls that we call home. 

Yeah, I know. Even as I’m typing this it all sounds like a bunch of ungrateful whiney BS. I hear it. I don’t need you to point it out, Karen. 

But, my guess is you’re reading this right now and realizing you’re over it too. Whatever “it” is in your life.

Some days the world feels like total crap. Everything is a mess. Everything costs too much. For E-V-E-R-Y-B-O-D-Y. 

Yes, even for you Karen. ➡️➡️ to keep reading.
Yes. Boundaries are healthy and good. And they mea Yes. Boundaries are healthy and good. And they mean someone loves you that much to communicate them! Love this wisdom from @wittyidiot
NEW POST ----> "This is not a post about loss of a NEW POST ----> "This is not a post about loss of a loved one. Or loss of a child. Those things are real, and they’re heart wrenching. And, this post is certainly not to compare that loss with the one I’m going to talk about.

But, the loss of yourself in motherhood is real. And It’s not talked about enough." 

Do you feel like you lost yourself in motherhood? How? I really want to know. 

Psss - I am in grad school to become a therapist, and am not ashamed to ask that you subscribe to my paid substack. I just lowered the cost to $36/year! That's like $4/month and you'll have access to all my previous posts, and some new weekly short posts to give you ideas to help with balancing motherhood and your own mental health. I'm learning a lot in school, and will only continue to do so, so subscribe and we'll support each other. ❤️
This memory made me laugh this morning. 🤣 This memory made me laugh this morning. 🤣
Saaaame. @womenwhorunwiththemoon Saaaame. @womenwhorunwiththemoon
I’m sorry are you really wearing doc martens and I’m sorry are you really wearing doc martens and a dress with spaghetti straps and a Tshirt under it while you’re telling me I’m doing it wrong? 🤣 Life is wild. Teenagers are fun.
Found in my pediatricians office. 🤣 What’s th Found in my pediatricians office. 🤣 What’s the moral of the story friends? If you think your household is always sick - it’s because they probably are. Kids make everything more germ-y
Here’s what I do know 👇 No one knows what th Here’s what I do know 👇

No one knows what they’re doing. 
We all feel like imposters. 
Our kids love us anyway. 
We’re all going to be OK. 
You’ve got this (as much as any of us do) 😘

#momspiration #momlife #funnymoms #memtalhealth #parentinglife #parentingquotes
"By trying to be perfect, we're actually trying to "By trying to be perfect, we're actually trying to avoid being human." 

Do you struggle with perfectionism? Parenthood has helped me quite a bit, but It's something I've battled my whole life. I still struggle occasionally, although it's gotten better. But, let's stop trying to avoid being human and instead embrace ourselves an in turn embrace the entire human race. ❤️ I'd love to hear how you embrace being imperfect. 

#perfecționism #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #anxiety #imperfect #perfectpending #themotherload #thementalload
Mood. Mood.
Some of you wanted sources on my last reel where I Some of you wanted sources on my last reel where I said we only need to be getting it right 30% of the time for our kids to have secure attachments. Well I wrote a bit more about the concept of being the “good enough mother” a term coined in the 50’s by a researcher and pediatrician. Check it all out in my newest post. Link in profile.
It’s true! Researchers have found that as long a It’s true! Researchers have found that as long as you’re doing the repair after mistakes the other times - then 30% is enough! Sometimes I worry I’m not doing it right but I definitely know I’m doing it right 30% of the time! 
Probably a whole lot more to be honest. I bet you are too. #momlife #encouragement #momspiration
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