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13 times the Honest Toddler author made us laugh and cry about parenting

The Honest Toddler creator posts about everything from dinnertime struggles to mom guilt. And we feel like she knows us, every single time.
/ Source: TODAY Contributor

Author Bunmi Laditan’s Facebook page has evolved from a place to promote her work to a parenting community that the Honest Toddler creator describes as “rare on social media these days.”

Whether making moms laugh about dinnertime frustrations or poking fun at the unrealistic pressures parents put on themselves to be perfect, Laditan feels followers of her page respect her transparency and realize that they are not alone when they read her posts.

“That's one thing I've learned,” Laditan told TODAY Parents. “Moms just want to feel less alone. They think they're the only one struggling, but the truth is, we all are.”

“Reading all of the comments makes me wish we lived in villages where moms interacted with each other more in person,” said Laditan. “It sounds weird, but I miss a community that I've never had: one where women worked and lived side by side and the whole town knew and helped each other.”

So Laditan is building her own online village — one where parents bond by laughing about toddler tantrums or sharing their stories of the stress and anxiety that can come with parenting.

Laditan’s posts remind parents daily that we are all in this together. Here are 13 posts that made us feel like the mom-of-three was reading our minds, or at least observing our dinner table discussions.

1. "I'm watching my friend's two kids tonight so they're all getting prison tacos (bare bones tacos with no fixings where you stretch the meat with rice.) It's a meal and a lesson all in one. Stay in school, kids! Now who wants tap water?"

2. "My second child humbled me. I started relating to the parents whose kids were angry spitting, kicking off their shoes, and trying to claw at their parents' faces because they were leaving the park. I knew that life.

So, if you're on your first easy kid, be careful. Don't let yourself get proud because it can all change. Enjoy your angel. And have another."

3. "We've got so much noise in our ears all the time about how to be better parents even though most of us were raised on bologna sandwiches and Tang."

4. "Sorry, but it's crazy that I should have to cook for children and engage them at the same time. That's ridiculous. If you need something, ask Jesus."

5. "I should've majored in Grocery Shopping with a minor in Burning Money because this is all I do."

6. "This is me when people ask if I'm available to talk on the phone. It's not that I don't want to connect, it's just that when my children sense me trying to contact the outside, they become jealous and express this by fighting amongst themselves WWE style, creating unexplainable messes — the last of which involved toothpaste, and talking/crying at volume levels that make hearing you impossible."

7. "Basic science fair supplies."

8. "Fun Fact: If you put blackberries in your sparkling wine it adds fiber thereby cancelling out the alcohol. Cheers!"

9. "So whether you made a hearty soup tonight with fresh country bread or are pulling up to McDonald's to get nuggets and a cheap toy, I salute you. Because we're feeding them and that's enough."

10. "I ate my soup with no one in my lap. No one asked for water or cried. No one asked me about spices or made gagging sounds. I just ate my soup. I was so thankful."

11. "Mothers are people. We have to save the world while saving ourselves from the demons and problems that are always just two paces behind us. We're trying our best because we know our kids get only one childhood, but at the same time time, we have our pains."

12. "It's hard. Really hard. Some days everything falls into place like a Britten's Playful Pizzicato, but other days all I can hear are needs unmet, tasks poorly executed, and my demons laughing at my attempts to be this person.

The only comfort against the churning waters that toss me like a rag doll is the knowledge that even though I'm not 100% ok, they are where they need to be. And they ate."

13. "Every time I hear one of them laugh, see them smile, or watch them sleep, I'm bathed in a love so hot it burns. It's not the kind of love that expects Valentines or stirs butterflies, it's the kind that rises and sets the sun faithfully."