Big Time Adulting’s Caitlin Murray on the Chaos, Guilt & Humor of Modern Motherhood

Motherhood can be beautiful, hilarious, lonely, exhausting—and sometimes all of those things before breakfast.In this episode of The Running Wine Mom, Samantha Cieslinski sits down with Caitlin Murray, creator of Big Time Adulting, for a funny and refreshingly real conversation about what motherhood actually looks like when you stop trying to make it look perfect.Caitlin shares how Big Time Adulting began during one of the hardest seasons of her life, when her oldest son was undergoing treatment for leukemia while she was raising a toddler and pregnant with her third child. Writing became an outlet, humor became a coping mechanism, and eventually her willingness to say the things mothers weren't always saying publicly became a community of more than a million followers. Samantha and Caitlin dig into the loneliness of early motherhood...even when you're never physically alone, and why the demands don't necessarily disappear as kids get older. The sleepless baby years may end, but they're often replaced by activity schedules, youth sports, decision fatigue, and the feeling that family life has become one endless sprint. They also talk about mom guilt, social media's influence on parenting, the pressure to create a picture-perfect childhood, and why Caitlin tries to tune out the competitive side of modern parenting.And, of course, there are plenty of laughs along the way: from aggressively shaken margaritas and considering "leaving your family" during a meltdown to the unexpected luxury of simply sitting down.In This Episode, We Talk About: How Caitlin Murray created Big Time Adulting  Her son's leukemia diagnosis and the role writing played during treatment  Why humor can be such a powerful coping mechanism  The loneliness and isolation of early motherhood  Why motherhood can feel like living life on autopilot  Mom guilt and learning to trust yourself as a parent  Instagram, Pinterest and the pressure to make motherhood look perfect  The mental load and never-ending "open tabs" in a mom's brain  Youth sports, overscheduling and the pressure to optimize childhood  What changes as kids move from babies and toddlers into the tween years  Caitlin's experience becoming recognizable in public  Why sitting down now qualifies as a luxury  What it means to live a life that's "well-adulted" One of Caitlin's most meaningful reminders from the conversation? Even though every parent gets things wrong, you know your children better than anyone else-and you're the parent they need. Connect with Caitlin MurrayFollow Caitlin on Instagram — @bigtimeadultingRead more from Big Time AdultingListen to Big Time Adulting PodcastConnect with The Running Wine MomFollow Samantha on Instagram — @therunningwinemom_Visit The Running Wine MomIf this episode made you feel seen, send it to another mom who needs the reminder that she isn't the only one trying to keep all those tabs open.