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If you've never felt inadequate or guilty about your parenting decisions, do you even have children?
It's a feeling most parents aren't shy about sharing, but as far as feeling comfortable with it, that's another story.
Sharing that she doubted her mothering abilities years before becoming a mom, Angelina Jolie recently opened up about her parenting insecurities.
"When I was young... I thought I can't imagine I'd ever be good enough to be somebody's mom," the actress said while speaking at the Mulberry School for Girls in the UK.
And while she admitted that she initially believed "You'd have to be perfect to be somebody's mom," she's since learned the importance of making mistakes.
"You have to make mistakes in life and learn from them... we are who we are because of all the things we've done, right and wrong."
The mom of 6 also gave some solid advice about life and happiness.
"Hold on to the belief that you are very deserving of happiness, of freedoms, of the ability to be able to be creative and have a voice and be safe, anything that stops you from being that, get it out of your life as quickly as possible."
Also see: 5 things every guilty parent needs to know
'Oh, then I'm not a good mom'
Local celeb mom, DJ Zinhle recently shared similar sentiments, admitting that she internalised societal pressures to raise her children a certain way.
"There is just a lot of messages from society, from friends, from everywhere telling you how you should mother your kids... then you're just like, 'Oh, then I'm not a good mom'," she said during a sit-down interview.
She went on to explain that she's since realised to silence these external critics.
"You start using those messages to measure yourself and then that's where you fall short...[but] I'm making the best decision according to me."
If anything, celeb moms prove the importance of having a mom tribe, because regardless of your status in society, no one is immune to self-doubt.
We're all just trying to do the best we can, and that's enough.
Compiled for Parent24 by Lesley-Anne Johannes.
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