Deanna Falzone is a morning news reporter for Fox17 in West Michigan and looking presentable is part of her job. But looking good isn’t always easy. You see, Deanna has two sons (7 months and 4 years), which means that she has to wake up at 3 a.m. That’s tough. But the woman does her best and perseveres.

However, since many of the channel’s viewers aren’t aware of everything Falzone goes through before she smiles at the camera, the news anchor decided to shed some light on her daily routine before a live broadcast. By sharing pictures taken before and after a makeup transformation and perfect lighting, she revealed just what a “hot mess” she usually is. Just like the rest of us. Her sincere post is a perfect reminder that there’s no need to compare yourself to others on social media and beat yourself up if they look more glam than you. They’re probably just pretending!

More info: Facebook

Image credits: Deanna Falzone

Image credits: Deanna Falzone

“I have been the morning news anchor at our station for over 5 years now,” Deanna told Bored Panda. “My alarm goes off at about 3 am. As you can imagine, before I had kids, it was much easier to handle the early morning hours. Often times after work, I would come home and take a big, long nap! That way, I could stay up later in the evening to hang out with my husband. Now, I start my day at 3 am and it typically ends around 10 pm (with a few wakeups in the middle of the night). Some days I get a nap, but most days it’s just not possible.”

“I go to work, get home at around noon and have the baby until I get my oldest from school. I try to nap (if he takes one) but I can’t always count on that! It’s really like having 2 fulltime jobs, one shift ends at noon and the other begins.”

The news anchor admitted that balancing work and family is a struggle. “In all honesty, I don’t think I will ever find the ‘balance.’ Some days I feel like I finally have a grasp on it and then other days it all falls apart,” Falzone explained. “More often than not, I’m just in survival mode. When I’m at work, I feel guilty I’m not home with my kids. I feel guilty I’m not there to wake up with them in the morning and get them ready for their day. On the work side of things, I often feel guilty that I can’t give 100% (or so it feels).”

Sometimes she even has to cancel meetings and interviews because she has to leave early for a sick kid. Also, Deanna can get easily distracted during an interview because she might start worrying about the kids at home. “It’s tough. The best way I’ve learned to find balance is to give myself grace,” she explained. “I remind myself that I’m trying my best and at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. I’ve come to terms with the fact that I likely won’t ever find a perfect balance, and I’m learning to be OK with that.”

Image credits: Deanna Falzone

At the end of the day, she just wants moms to know they’re not alone. Deanna thinks we don’t talk enough about how hard motherhood can really be. “We don’t want want to seem like we are complaining or that we’re ungrateful. We don’t want to seem like failures or like we can’t handle it, so we keep it all in.”

“But that’s not reality. Sometimes it really is that hard. Sometimes we are just barely hanging on and that’s OK! Admitting our struggles doesn’t make us failures. Admitting we’re exhausted, overwhelmed, and feeling defeated doesn’t mean we don’t love our kids any less or that we’re not thankful for the blessings they are.”

“It means we’re human! It means we’re trying our hardest,” she said. “I want other moms to know that no one has it all figured out, despite what it seems like on social media. I want other moms to know their hard work, their unseen work that comes with the daily grind is noticed and it’s enough. I want them to know that they are enough.”

Here’s what people said about Deanna’s post

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