The holidays can magnify everything—joy, stress, and the pressure to make it all perfect. But behind the lights and lists, many moms are quietly struggling, and others want to help but don’t know how. This is the conversation we aren’t having: how to offer support without making it awkward, and how to ask for help when everything in you says don’t.

Motherhood changes you in ways no one can prepare you for. It’s okay to miss parts of your old self — and it’s just as important to find gentle ways to reconnect with who you are now.