“These are my monkeys. This is my circus.

“Being a mother is amazing, it’s exhausting, it’s full of trial and error and hoping you don’t screw somebody up for the rest of their life. No pressure! But overall, at the end of the day, it’s just pretty amazing that I have two big-hearted kids, you know?

“It’s being a tolerator of the fart jokes and such. I still feel like I haven’t mastered ‘the look,’ you know, where they just automatically just stop doing what you want them to stop doing. I don’t have to sit there and prompt them to say their thank you’s and please’s and to use their manners, for the most part.

“To new moms, I’d say you can’t follow the Mom books to the letter, for sure. You’re gonna screw up, and it’s okay. Period. And you can ask for advice and everybody’s gonna tell you something different. And it may not work for you, may not work for your kid, and that’s okay, too. Find your circus and try to corral your kids the best you can. The love is unconditional.”