Mom’s Hilarious Viral Cartoon Drawing Of Her Sleepless Night Shows Why Moms Are So Exhausted

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It’s obvious that life with a newborn is a major life adjustment, and one of the biggest changes is coping with a chronic lack of sleep. While parenthood is exhausting, it’s typically moms that bear the burden of sleep deprivation while raising young kids.

One of the more frustrating things about being so tired is that others around us just.don’t.get.it.

It can be hard to really put into words just how exhausted we moms can feel first thing in the morning, so one mom took to drawing to explain to her baffled husband why she’s -as she puts it- “not in the best of moods first thing in the mornings.”

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Tired mama Mattea Goff sketched out an impromptu cartoon panel of her typical night as a nursing mom, and her Facebook post is quickly going viral because the struggle is real, and all moms waking up with a baby GET IT.

Let’s take a look at how the night starts, shall we?

Photo Credit: Mattea Goff

The night starts with everyone peacefully asleep… until a short time later. Of course Mom immediately snaps awake. And of course Dad does NOT. Note the husband’s “useless nipples”, which will become key to the story.

Photo Credit: Mattea Goff

So tired Mom (those realistic eye bags are a nice touch, right?!) is now in a semi-conscious state as baby nurses away, because as nice as it would be for her to drift off to sleep, it ain’t happening with all of that baby slurping and squirming…

…or with that husband snoring away, because OF COURSE he snores, which is probably why this poor mom was already sleep-deprived prior to baby.

Photo Credit: Mattea Goff

While the dad snores away in a state of uninterrupted bliss, Mom is now multi-tasking -because that’s what we moms do 24 hours a day- and making a mental note to clip her baby’s nails first thing in the morning.

And she knows she needs to do that because her sweet tiny baby has jagged fingernails that are as sharp as a tiny shark’s teeth, and are now piercing Mom’s skin.

And let’s remember that if baby is old enough to have teeth, than it’s quite possible Mom’s nipples are being attacked by baby teeth that are literally like a shark’s.

Note that Dad’s nipples are perfectly intact, because they’re USELESS.

This feeding is done, and I say “this” one because of course there will be more throughout the night. In an ideal world, baby would fall peacefully to sleep, and so would Mom.

But… VOMIT. Of course.

Newborn seem to have a knack for either vomiting or generating a massive poop explosion just when they seem to have had their fill, and just when Mom thinks it’s safe to finally fall back to sleep at 2am.

Photo Credit: Mattea Goff
Photo Credit: Mattea Goff

The vomit’s been cleaned up, and now should be a good time to sleep… if only Mom could. While sweet, tiny baby feet are usually adorable, they are far less adorable when plunging their way into your eye socket. Or your nose. Or your boob, which is likely hanging right out in the open since Mom ditched her top because BABY VOMIT, remember??

And while sleeping topless used to be fun, it’s considerably less fun for Mom now that her husband, he of the still-useless-nipples, has stolen all of the covers.

Even though babies tend to become a teeny brick of sweaty heat when curled up next to you, this baby’s heat isn’t enough to warm this poor mama up enough to compensate for Mr. Useless Nipple’s blanket-hogging ways.

Photo Credit: Mattea Goff

And here we are. It’s morning, and Dad is just waking up from his full night’s sleep. Baby is slumbering contently. And Mom looks like every single mother of a newborn, regardless of breast or bottle feeding…

She’s a hot mess. And not just a hot mess, but a hot, GRUMPY, TIRED mess.

While Dad wants to cuddle after a full night’s sleep, Mom wants: coffee, a shower, a nap, a hairbrush, and probably wants to slice off Dad’s useless nipples if his cuddle request comes before 7am.

In creator Mattea Goff’s own words, here’s how this hilarious cartoon came about:

I’m not a professional artist by any means- just artistic. So yes this was originally only meant for my husband, I have a sarcastic sense of humor, so when I get waaay past the point of tired, this is what happens.

Goff, the mother of Seleste (5) and Aurora (5 months), showed the cartoon to a few of her close friends, who insisted that she share it publicly. She has wise friends, because within two days, her post has over 126K shares!

Photo Credit: Mattea Goff

This post is a hilarious depiction of a scary reality of early parenthood: sleep deprivation. It can both parents, but many moms take on the sole responsibility of feeding baby at night (breast OR bottle). The chronic exhaustion not only impairs our ability as moms to feel like reasonable, patient human beings, but it also sparks a resentment for anyone who CAN sleep. While I love my husband fiercely, I loved him a lot less at 2am while he slept as I fed our baby for the third time that night.

Babies need to eat at all hours, so someone has to bear the burden of night feedings.

If it’s Mom, then Dad- here’s a great rule of thumb for you: If you love your wife, let her sleep. She’ll be much more likely to want to cuddle if you & your useless nipples entertain the baby while she naps.

So this past weekend I was having a hard time finding the words (probably because I haven't had any sleep) to express to…

Posted by Mattea Goff on Thursday, October 11, 2018

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