Woman's Viral Drawings Totally Nail Why Moms Are So Exhausted

A woman drew a comic for her husband to show how tough nighttime nursing is

Most any mom who has exclusively nursed a newborn is familiar with Mattea Goff’s struggle with nighttime nursing. But it can be hard to explain to non-nursing partners how hard it is to survive each and every night, even though they are often laying right next to you.

Goff’s solution? Get a pad of paper and draw it.

She posted her sketches on Facebook with this message: “So this past weekend I was having a hard time finding the words (probably because I haven’t had any sleep) to express to Kris why I’m not in the best of moods first thing in the morning. So I sat down with my coffee and drew him a visual.”

After posting her five-panel cartoon about the waking nightmare that can be nighttime nursing an infant, it quickly went viral, tallying over 186,000 shares and 55,000 comments (mostly from moms tagging friends and partners).

Let’s take a closer look at this genius one panel at a time. First off: the beginning of bed time. Everyone’s so happy and so unconscious. Lovely.

But then uh-oh: someone’s still not learned about importance of circadian rhythms yet.

Next, we have the wiggly nighttime nursing baby, while Useless Nipples sleeps on.

Then, we discover, night after night, that the sharpest substance on the earth is not the razor’s edge of a diamond, but the teeny tiny fingernails of an infant.

Next, the inevitable nighttime nursing spit up. Is it enough to even clean up, or could you just get away with covering it with a nursing pad? In a way, the warmth is nice.

In the final panel, the bearer of Useless Nipples awakens refreshed, the baby is sleeping soundly, and mom looks like she’s been hit by an adorable angel truck.

Goff, who has two daughters, ages five and five months, has been buoyed by everyone who’s left comments and messages for her since posting the drawings.

“The response has been amazing and almost 100% positive,” she tells Scary Mommy. “It’s fantastic how much support and encouragement has surrounded this thing. I never, ever expected it to get this much love.”

Goff said that she’s always loved art, and that she’s been drawing cartoons since she was a teenager, though she’s never done so professionally or publicly — just projects for friends and family. Now, she wants to create a Facebook and Instagram page to share her art — and her feelings about motherhood, in all of their complexity.

“In true mom fashion, I’ve got lots of balls in the air,” she said. “Wouldn’t you know it that something this amazing would come at the busiest time.”

Her husband has been fully supportive, both of the message of her art, and her ideas for sharing it in the future.

“One thing that’s really resonated with me,” she said, “I’ve received messages from moms all over the world at this point and I think it’s amazing how everyone’s culture and situation can be completely different but certain truths just penetrate all of that and in the end we’re all just moms trying to do the best we can for our families. It’s beautiful.”

“If I had one message I hope to send, it’s that our supportive dads are irreplaceable and a wonderful thing,” she said. “If anything, this will encourage more dads to be that supportive pillar that we need. Even when we have the most supportive and involved husbands and partners it doesn’t mean that being a mom isn’t difficult, that we don’t get tired and cranky. But for me if I didn’t laugh I would cry so (most of the time) I choose to bring humor to these serious issues.”