Kate Hudson: 'Some Days I Am Literally Hiding From My Children'

Kate Hudson writes an honest essay about sometimes feeling like a “bad mom”

Kate Hudson is being refreshingly honest about some of the realities of being a mother. Namely, that there are a lot of times when no matter what you do, you’re going to feel like a bad mom.

The actress is a single mom to two kids, Ryder 12 and Bingham, 3. She knows the struggles of balancing work and kids, and in next month’s issue of InStyle, she writes an honest essay about the feelings that come along with balancing motherhood and all of the other aspects of your life. InStyle.com has a peek of the essay that hits the stands in a few weeks.

“Some days I feel like I should win best mom of the day award, and some days I find myself doing strange things that don’t have any real purpose, in faraway corners in my house, and I realize I am literally and deliberately hiding from my children,” she writes in an exclusive essay she penned for the magazine. Who can’t relate to that? And how guilty does it make you feel?

There are days when you just want to look at your adorable children and soak up every moment. We all know childhood is fleeting, and in some moments the thought that your little girl or boy isn’t going to be following you around, wanting to be near you every second, is enough to make your heart break. There are other days when you feel like if you hear the words “mommy” one more time, you’re going to freak.

That’s motherhood.

“Yes, I help my kids with their homework. But I also get bored doing it,” Hudson writes. “I will sit and listen to my children pontificate and discuss their ideas till the day is long because it warms my heart, but I really don’t want to do math! I’m gonna say it: I’d prefer to watch ‘The Bachelor’ rather than do fractions and divisions.”

Well, duh. Point being, this is stuff that we actually guilt ourselves about.

Look, motherhood is magical and wonderful and all those other adjectives you’ve heard describe it. It can also be boring. And tedious. And all-consuming. Admitting that doesn’t make us bad moms, it makes us human.

“…Even though every primal ounce of the nurturing, domestic woman in me gets pulled, I’m a hunter as well. And I love to hunt! And as a woman I feel that somehow we are supposed to feel apologetic about wanting both,” Hudson writes about craving more than motherhood. “But I don’t want to apologize for that anymore. Being both already comes at an emotional cost, without adding society’s antiquated idea of the traditional roles of man and woman in the home.”

Preach. Yes, we’re moms. But we are so much more than that — and it’s okay to admit it. It’s okay to want more, it’s okay to hide from your kids, it’s okay to be a human being.

Thanks for reminding us.