No one has ever said being a parent is easy. Essentially all of your free time (and disposable income) is now dedicated to taking care of your little ones, and there’s no compensation or appreciation involved. Being a mom or dad never stops being challenging, no matter how much people want to tell you “it gets better after the terrible twos!” It’s messy and exciting and exhausting and rewarding. It’s all worth it to have a mini-me who loves you more than anything in the world and who you get to watch grow into an amazing person that you’re proud of.

But one essential trait parents need to ensure they can get through the day without ripping out their hair or dying from embarrassment is a great sense of humor. You can’t sweat the small stuff, and you have to be able to admit that you’re never going to be perfect. (Anyone who says they are is lying!) And it’s much better to laugh through the pain and exhaustion than to try to keep it all together. A great parent is just someone who’s doing their best.

To learn more about what it’s like to be a fabulous parent who’s open online about the joys and struggles of having kids, we reached out to CJ Kelsey, also known as That Mom Tho on Twitter and Instagram. CJ is a mom of two who works in the healthcare industry and has been able to grow a following online through sharing her hilarious experiences. She was also kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda about the importance of being able to laugh as a parent. 

“A sense of humor definitely helps because parenting can be hilarious!” CJ shared. “Children are naturally honest and curious– these two traits combined lead to a great deal of funny situations.”

We were also curious about how CJ got started sharing hilarious parenting stories and experiences online. “I started my Twitter account as a place to make jokes anonymously and never expected it to lead to anything,” the mom shared. Today, however, she has over 47k followers on Twitter, nearly 18k on Instagram, and 13k followers on Facebook! 

And as far as what she loves most about her online presence, CJ says, “My favorite response to anything I write is when someone tells me they thought they were alone in their experience and happy to read I am going through the same thing.”

CJ also shared some wise words for all the parents out there who might be worried about trying to be perfect. “I wanted to be the perfect parent when expecting my first and quickly discovered there’s no such thing,” she told Bored Panda. “My advice is to be kinder to yourself. Understand that it is a constant learning experience and that children mostly just want to know they are loved.”

“Being a mom has changed my perspective on life and the world for the better,” CJ shared. “My curiosity for the future lies in how I will parent a daughter who appears to be developing the same attitude I had. I would gladly accept a handbook for the teenage years!”

We all know there’s no such thing as a perfect anything, let alone a perfect parent. But that doesn’t stop countless mommy bloggers and family vloggers from trying to portray their lives as effortless and flawless. 6 out of 10 parents say they feel pressure from social media to be perfect moms and dads, and 40% of moms admit they compare themselves to the curated lives of parents they see online.

We teach our children how harmful social media is and that comparison is the thief of joy, but why is it so hard to practice what we preach? Part of the reason we love sharing these “parenting tweets of the month” articles (aside from the fact that they’re hilarious) is because we want to remind you panda parents that you’re not alone! Doing your best is enough.      

When it comes to some of the “mistakes” every parent makes, Steven John at Insider says there are 30 extremely common ones that no mom or dad will be able to avoid. (And that’s okay!) These include letting our kids fall or get hurt, packing our children’s schedules too full, giving our little ones too many choices to make, forgetting important items when going to school or soccer practice, praising them too much, and trying to talk above them. “Kids catch onto more than you think, despite the diction enabled by your sagacity, and can end up hearing things little ears shouldn't,” John writes.  

No matter how many “mistakes” we make with our little ones, we shouldn’t beat ourselves up. As long as they know that they’re safe, loved, taken care of and able to express themselves, you’re doing an amazing job. And if you need to vent or share some hilarious stories online, feel free to hop onto Twitter. You’ll quickly realize that you’re not alone, and you’re a great parent. Plus, we’d love to have a laugh at your experiences and feature them in next month’s edition of this list!

If you’re an exhausted parent who can’t wait for your children to be back in school full time in a few weeks, you don’t need to feel bad about that. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, and you’ll finally be able to keep your kitchen clean for more than three hours when your kids aren’t eating three meals a day plus snacks in there. Keep upvoting the tweets that hit home for you or make you chuckle, and let us know in the comments if you’ve recently had any hilarious parenting experiences. Then, if you’re interested in checking out Bored Panda’s last parenting tweets of the month post, you can find it right here!