Moms share their messy homes on TikTok to fight ‘mom shaming’

A newly popular TikTok hashtag, #NormalizeBeingNormal, is encouraging moms to offer looks inside their homes in hopes of disrupting the endless scroll of perfect homes and perfect lives and fighting so-called “mom shaming.”

Since the early 1900s, women have historically been responsible for cleaning, cooking and childcare. And while these are all worthy and inspiring jobs, they don’t fit neatly into the airbrushed, just-the-highlights world of social media.

That’s where #NormalizeBeingNormal comes in. The TikTok trend reveals what moms already know: that working, raising kids and looking after a house are a lot of hard work, and the day-to-day reality of life can be pretty messy.

While there are plenty of negative comments about the messy homes featured, there is also plenty of encouragement and sympathy from other moms who understand just how silly it is to expect perfect, Instagram-worthy homes.

KC Davis, or @Domesticblisters, has over a million followers on TikTok and is one of many moms taking to the app to showcase how everyday struggles can add up — how, before you know it, you have a week of dirty dishes in the sink. Davis is also a licensed therapist with ADAH.

“After the first couple of days, I became overwhelmed and just went into avoidance mode,” Davis said in the video.

#MessyMoms, #Cleanwithme, #Strugglecare and #overwhelmedmom are all intended to be a safe space for parents to share what they’re going through and how they get through those hard times.