As parents, it's easy to think that showing up for our kids means being at every game, every school event, every performance, and every milestone.

But I don't think that's what showing up really means.

To me, showing up for my kids starts with showing up for myself. When I'm taking care of my physical, mental, and emotional health, I have more patience, more grace, and more capacity to be present for them.

And being present doesn't mean being perfect.

Some of the most important parenting moments in my life haven't been the moments where I got everything right. They've been the moments where I admitted I got something wrong.

Showing up for our kids sometimes looks like apologizing.

Sometimes it looks like repairing after a mistake.

Sometimes it looks like saying, "I'm sorry. I wish I had handled that differently."

I also believe showing up means listening more than we tell.

It's easy to get caught up in chores, schedules, and responsibilities, but our kids are so much more than their to-do lists. I want my boys to know that I'm genuinely interested in their lives—their thoughts, opinions, friendships, struggles, and dreams.

Not because they accomplished something.

Not because they earned it.

Simply because they matter.

Most of all, I want my kids to know there is nothing they could do to make me love them more and nothing they could do to make me love them less.

At the end of the day, showing up for our kids isn't about perfection.

It's about being willing to grow.

To apologize.

To listen.

To be interested.

To be present.

To be human.

Because years from now, they may not remember every game we attended or every perfectly packed lunch. But hopefully they'll remember something much bigger:

"I always knew my mom showed up for me."

This blog is just a small piece of the conversation. In this episode of The Photographer's Couch, I share more personal stories, lessons I've learned as a mom, and what showing up for our kids has looked like in my own life.