8 Mother’s Day Shirts That Tell It Like It Is

Moms, it’s time to celebrate you. Another year of hand holding, tear drying, clothes washing, and bedtime story reading is coming to an end. I know! Where did the time go? Gretchen Rubin wasn’t kidding when she said, “The days are long but the years are short.” And nobody knows that better than moms. Another almost as wise saying (that should be famous but isn’t yet because I just made it up) is “The kids are cute, but the mom is tired.” This Mother’s Day, celebrate the beautiful mess that is motherhood by gathering together with your mom friends in custom shirts that tell it like it really is.

1. Tired as a Mother

A recent study showed that parents don’t start to recoup their sleep deprivation until their youngest is six. Seriously. Six years. More if you have more than one kid. Add that to the list of things they don’t tell you before you make the leap to the other side. You probably thought that lack of sleep would be no problem. After all, you were the queen of all-nighters in college. Well, friend, now you know the difference between staying up all night and sleeping all day and being awakened by a hungry shriek at 3 am and then again by a little one who is ready to party all day long at 6.

2. Saved by Caffeine

Through six years of nighttime potty breaks, nightmares, and one more glass of water, what can one do to get through the day? Drink more coffee, of course! Shout out to the thing that’s keeping you going, while also giving the nod to all your mom friends who know what parenthood really runs on. Get one for all of your friends and maybe you can conquer the local coffee shop for your home base.

3. Coffee Before Talkie

As kids get older, we can teach them to do things like hold a cup, use a spoon, and dress themselves. And while tossing a pair of socks at a kid to pull on while you head off to make their lunch, maybe they can really make themselves useful by learning another essential family chore: making coffee. This shirt can be the start of it all. An everyday reminder to keep it down and fill it up. Of course, this will probably work best if you teach them to read first.

4. Mama Hair Don’t Care

Being a parent, especially of little ones, means that there can be a lot less time for doing things you might have taken for granted before… like grooming. Combing your hair might have become a thing of the past, but you’re keeping a tiny human (or humans) alive! That is more than enough excuse to throw your hair up into a bun, toss on a custom t-shirt that says that you know what’s up and go on with your day.

5. Mommin’ Ain’t Easy

“Treasure these moments. They are so fleeting. You will miss them being so little. They’ll be grown before you know it. They’re only young once.” We’ve all heard these unsolicited gems while trying to carry a kicking and screaming toddler out of a store under one arm like a surfboard. Sure, there are precious moments to balance them out like a well-placed face-grab-sloppy-kiss accompanied by an “I love you, Mommy,” but let’s be honest. Mommin’ is the opposite of easy.

6. I Wine Because You Whine

I’m about to blow your mind. Possibly my best ever mom hack has helped decrease my kid’s whining by 78%. I just pretend that I don’t understand him when he whines. It actually works. He whines, I say I don’t know what he said, and then he stops whining and speaks normally. But for that other 22% of the time, wine can definitely take the edge off that little high-pitched voice. If you have a mom’s wine club, this would be the perfect shirt for all of you to wear when you get together. If you don’t have a mom’s whine wine club, why not?

7. Don’t Do That

As a mom, you often find yourself uttering phrases that you never thought would come out of your mouth. Things like “Please don’t lick the cat.” or “We don’t put our feet in the toilet.” or “Hair is not for eating.” But basically, they are all versions of the same saying: “Don’t do that.” We teach our kids a lot of things as they grow, but perhaps even more important are the things we teach them not to do. That is what will really help make them into humans that others actually want to be around. Wear this as a daily reminder that saying no to your kid can actually be saying yes to a future great person.

8. Mom Life is the Best Life

Here’s where we say that we wouldn’t trade our kids for anything. That the laughter and the snuggles make the lack of sleep and no time to shower all worth it. Being a mom can be pretty great. It isn’t bad to remind ourselves of that sometimes, and honestly, what’s a better reminder than an adorable custom tank top, a soft t-shirt, or a snuggly hoodie?

Moms, the bottom line is: Mother’s Day is your day. Your name is in it and everything. So, you should take this opportunity to treat yourself and the other moms you know and love by grabbing some cool custom shirts and letting everyone know what it’s really like to be a mom.