Let me be honest with you—when I picked up Paula Faris's book "You Don't Have to Carry It All," I was skeptical. Another book promising to solve the chaos of working motherhood? I've got three kids, a work-from-home schedule that never seems to end, and a to-do list that grows faster than I can cross things off. The last thing I needed was another person telling me how to "have it all."

But this book? This one was different. Finally, someone gets it.

Paula Faris isn't some guru preaching from an ivory tower. She's a former Good Morning America anchor and View co-host who walked away from her high-profile career because she saw what the rest of us are living: working mothers are drowning, and nobody seems to care. As a mom of three herself, she gets the daily juggle of conference calls interrupted by snack requests and the guilt that follows you everywhere—even to the bathroom (because let's be real, that's the only place we get five minutes alone).

And thank goodness, she doesn't give us that tired advice I'm so sick of hearing: "Just wake up at 5 AM for your alone time!" Nope, no thanks. I'd like to sleep, and that's not a solution—it's just shifting exhaustion around. Faris actually acknowledges that we're already running on empty and doesn't suggest we sacrifice the little rest we get for more productivity.

The first thing that grabbed me was her research finding that 80-90% of mothers experience mom guilt. EIGHTY TO NINETY PERCENT. I actually felt relief reading that statistic because it meant I wasn't the only one lying awake at 2 AM wondering if I'm screwing up my kids by working, or feeling guilty for wanting a career in the first place.

The Mom Guilt Is Real (And It's Not Our Fault)

Here's what I loved most about this book: Faris doesn't tell us to "just think positive" or "find better balance." Instead, she makes the case that our guilt isn't a personal failing—it's a symptom of a society that expects mothers to be everything to everyone while providing almost no support.

She digs into the research showing that motherhood actually makes our brains better, not worse. (Take that, every person who's ever implied having kids would hurt my career!) And she explains how we've been set up to fail by systems that were never designed with working mothers in mind.

Practical Help for Real Life

The book is broken into short chapters—perfect for those 10-minute windows between Zoom calls and picking up kids from school. Faris gives actual strategies for:

• Managing guilt when it hits (because it will, and that's normal)

• Building your support network (and yes, this includes training your partner to do more)

• Redefining what success looks like for your specific life and season

• Making peace with "good enough" in some areas so you can excel in others

What I appreciated most was that she doesn't promise you'll suddenly love every minute of juggling work and kids. Instead, she gives you permission to admit it's hard while providing tools to make it more manageable.

My Biggest Takeaway

The most powerful message for me was this: I don't have to carry it all, and neither do you. We've been conditioned to think that struggling means we're failing, when really, struggling means we're trying to do an impossible job without adequate support.

Faris challenges us to stop suffering in silence and start demanding better—from our partners, our employers, our communities, and ourselves. She reminds us that we're not just trying to survive our own motherhood journey; we're paving the way for our daughters to have better options.

Who Needs This Book?

If you're a working mom feeling like you're constantly falling short, this book is for you. If you work from home and struggle with the blurred lines between "mom time" and "work time," you'll find yourself nodding along to every page. If you've ever felt guilty for wanting both a career and engaged motherhood, Faris will help you see that wanting both doesn't make you selfish—it makes you human.

Even if your partner or family members don't fully understand the weight you're carrying, having them read this book could be a game-changer for building the support you need.

The Bottom Line

I'm not going to lie and say this book solved all my problems. I still have days when everything feels like chaos, and my kids still interrupt important calls at the worst possible moments. But what's different now is that I don't carry the extra weight of thinking it's all my fault.

"You Don't Have to Carry It All" gave me something I didn't even realize I was missing: permission to be imperfect and the tools to ask for help. For any mom drowning in the endless demands of trying to do everything for everyone, this book isn't just a good read—it's a lifeline.

Trust me, your future self will thank you for picking it up.

You Don't Have to Carry It All: Ditch the Mom Guilt and Find a Better Way Forward by Paula Faris is available on Amazon.

Why "You Don't Have to Carry It All" Hit Home for me...