50 Best Working Mom Quotes That Are Inspiring, Honest, and Funny

Life as a working mom is challenging, to put it mildly. When you’re living life by phone alarms to remember everything from signing permission slips to joining an important conference call, it helps to remember you’re not alone in trying to balance it all. Here’s a little inspiration from other working moms to lift you up.

Best inspirational working mom quotes

“I’m an artist. I love my job. I feel very, very lucky to be in the position where going to work means I’m feeding myself. As a mother, you have to make sure you do that because that will nourish your child too.” —Maggie Gyllenhaal

“We should go after our dreams and not be apologetic about it, but it’s scary. Whether you want to work or not, you have to do what makes you a fuller person. You have to love yourself.” —Catherine Reitman

“Believe that there are no limitations, no barriers to your success. You will feel empowered and you will achieve.” —Ursula Burns

"Being a mother has been a master class in letting go. Try as we might, there’s only so much we can control. And, boy, have I tried—especially at first. As mothers, we just don’t want anything or anyone to hurt our babies. But life has other plans. Bruised knees, bumpy roads and broken hearts are part of the deal. What’s both humbled and heartened me is seeing the resiliency of my daughters." —Michelle Obama

“When I started having kids, I never stopped working. I would take breaks, of course, but I didn’t change my creative life.” —Maya Rudolph

"My mom worked, and I think it's good for kids to see women working and being successful ... I think it's going to make them hard workers because they see that I don't get much sleep. But I love what I do. I want them to grow up with passion. This is the one life you get, and you have to live it to the very end." —Reese Witherspoon

“There’s something really empowering about going, ‘Hell, I can do this! I can do this all!’ that's the wonderful thing about mothers, you can because you must, and you just do.” —Kate Winslet

"For all working mothers it's important to remember that we don't get to be with our kids all the time, but it's also important for them to see us as leaders and there is value in that." —Olivia Wilde

“Very early on, I explained it to them—they went to school, I went to work. We each had our own obligations, our responsibilities and when we met at night, we would exchange our experiences.” —Diane von Furstenberg 

“Trying to do it all and expecting that it can be done exactly right is a recipe for disappointment. Perfection is the enemy.” —Sheryl Sandberg

“As a mom, I knew in finding a partner that I wanted someone who was approaching the role of parent to be my equal. There is no job in the house that one of us doesn’t do.” —Rebecca Minkoff

“I want [my daughter] to know something that I feel is important. I love work. I love her and I love work, and I want her to know work’s a good thing. It’s not something you’re dragged off to.” —Hoda Kotb

"Be vulnerable enough to choose joy because those who truly love you will support you no matter what. Motherhood is hard, but your struggle doesn't have to be yours alone." —Brené Brown

“Time will stretch to accommodate what we choose to put into it.” —Laura Vanderkam

“Knowing I've got this beautiful baby to go home to makes me feel like I don't have to play another match. I don't need the money or the titles or the prestige. I want them, but I don't need them. That's a different feeling for me." —Serena Williams

“The balancing act of motherhood and a career, and being a wife, is something that I don’t think I’ll ever perfect, but I love the challenge of it.” —Kerri Walsh Jennings

“Something cracked open inside of me right after giving birth to my first daughter ... From that point on, I truly understood my power, and motherhood has been my biggest inspiration.” —Beyoncé

“When I started law school, my daughter, Jane, was 14 months and I attribute my success in law school largely to Jane. I went to class about 8:30 a.m. and I came home at 4 p.m., that was children’s hour. It was a total break in my day and children’s hour continued until Jane went to sleep. Then I was happy to go back to the books, so I felt each part of my life gave me respite from the other.” —Ruth Bader Ginsburg

“As soon as I gave birth, I suddenly noticed issues in my own backyard. Motherhood changed everything for me.” —Julia Louis-Dreyfus

“The worst thing that we can do as women is not stand up for each other, and this is something we can practice every day, no matter where we are and what we do—women sticking up for other women, choosing to protect and celebrate each other instead of competing or criticizing one another.” —Amal Clooney

Best funny working mom quotes

“Working mothers' laughter comes hardest when our double life is revealed for what it is: a juggling act in which the balls can drop at any time, invariably on our own head.” —Allison Pearson

“I wrote my first full stack application from a bathroom floor because my then-toddler was potty training.” —Valerie Regos

“I can be covered in spit up on a conference call while I'm pumping and that's OK, because this is my perfect. It may not be somebody else's, but this is mine.” —Kerry Washington 

“Becoming a mom to me means you have accepted that for 16 years of your life, you will have a sticky purse.” —Nia Vardalos

“I am devoted to knowing my children, to reading books with them, to hearing stories they tell me and to the conversations we have. To making them citizens of the world. To raising strong feminist beings who love and believe in themselves. That is hard enough for me without delivering home-baked goods to school on a Friday.” —Shonda Rhimes

"We're the paper plate parent. You know when you have to sign up for something, like a bake sale, but you don't know how to bake, so you just sign up for the paper plates." —Hoda Kotb

“When your children are teenagers, it's important to have a dog so that someone in the house is happy to see you.” —Nora Ephron

Best honest working mom quotes

“I think every working mom probably feels the same thing: You go through big chunks of time where you're just thinking, 'This is impossible—oh, this is impossible.' And then you just keep going and keep going, and you sort of do the impossible.” —Tina Fey

"It's not difficult to take care of a child; it's difficult to do anything else while taking care of a child." —Julianne Moore, actress and author

“I never let them see the struggle. I should have. I just think that it's better if kids see how hard it is and how hard you have to work to make something happen. It doesn’t just happen.” —Judy Blume

“I felt like I was drowning; I felt like I was overwhelmed; I felt like I was doing a terrible job at my job because I was thinking about my kids and I was doing a terrible job at my kids because I was thinking about my job and that is something working moms have to struggle with and … we’re gonna have to come up with a new way to treat each other and treat ourselves because it’s something that working dads don’t go through.” —Kelly Ripa

“As an entrepreneur and a mom, you must wear many hats—but you also can’t be afraid to ask for help.” —Ariel Kaye

 “I think moms put a lot of pressure on ourselves trying to balance it all. It’s never going to be perfectly balanced—the sooner you know this, the sooner you can relieve some of the pressure you put on yourself.” —Denise Richards

“Mothers are guilty enough without more rules about mothering.” —Erica Jong

“Sometimes I wonder, on a Saturday afternoon when I’m really tired, ‘Do younger parents feel this way?’ And the answer is yes. I know them, they’re my friends—and they’re exhausted. All parents have those moments of low energy and times they’re frustrated. That’s just the nature of it.” —Savannah Guthrie

“I have always been a procrastinator and a horrible time-manager—having a child really forced me to curb some (some!) of my worst impulses in that area.” —Emily Flake 

“Like so many working mothers all over the world, I feel the constant struggle to be the best mother I can, whilst setting a good example to my children to work hard. I travel for work when it’s necessary, and I miss them all the time when I am away.” —Victoria Beckham

“This struggle is real. The juggle is real. That’s why everyone should hire working mothers. They are put in crazy situations all the time and are forced to problem-solve. They are some of my most resourceful employees.” —Sara Blakely

“The obligation for working mothers is a very precise one: the feeling that one ought to work as if one did not have children, while raising one's children as if one did not have a job.” —Annabel Crabb

“The fastest way to break the cycle of perfectionism and become a fearless mother is to give up the idea of doing it perfectly—indeed to embrace uncertainty and imperfection.” —Arianna Huffington

“Being a working mom is not easy. You have to be willing to screw up at every level.” —Jami Gertz

“It’s OK to have chaos. It’s OK to have discontinuity and asynchronicity because there’s no other way around it when you have kids and you’re working from home.” —Melissa Hong

“My home is messy, but the way I am spending my time is the right way for me at this time at this stage of my life.” —Marie Kondo

“Sometimes you sacrifice some things, and I think that’s OK. When you’re trying to do something and it’s that important to you, that’s necessary.” —Allyson Felix

“Get rid of the guilt. When you’re at one place, don’t feel bad that you’re not at work; when you’re at work, don’t feel bad that you’re not at home.” —Katie Couric

“I didn’t expect to be so attached. I didn’t expect to turn down a lot of work if I was going to be away.” —Ali Wentworth

"There is an unspoken pact that women are supposed to follow. I am supposed to act like I constantly feel guilty about being away from my kids. (I don't. I love my job.) Mothers who stay at home are supposed to pretend they are bored and wish they were doing more corporate things. (They don't. They love their job.)" —Amy Poehler

“I'm tired but grateful: choosing to blend parenting and public service has made me a more confident mother and a better legislator.” —Michelle Wu

“The goal is to prioritize and get done what is necessary each day. Ultimately, that is what it means to balance life.” —Arian Moore

“It's all about finding the calm in the chaos.” —Donna Karan

“I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less.” —Anna Quindlen

“I chuckle when I think of how my dreams used to be so big. Little did I know how much better the small things would be: The plain beauty of the breakfast table—my daughter’s two-toothed grin, food on her face and all over the floor. Every new thing, a discovery. Watching her grow has been the greatest pleasure I’ve known.” —Constance Wu

“Working out means I can avoid things like diabetes, hypertension, and other things I am at high risk for. Now that I have kids, it isn't just about looking hot because I'm an actress. I need to live a long time because I'm a single mom.” —Mindy Kaling

“Taking time for myself has not only helped me be more effective as a CEO, it has helped me be a more relaxed, happy and fulfilled mother.” —Anjali Sud

“You need to rely on your support systems—your tribe and girlfriends—to talk about the messy times and the moments that don’t make it on your Instagram highlight reel. It’s what keeps me going.” —Molly Sims

“Moms are always hustling. We’re like plate spinners. Doesn’t it feel like the second you let your guard down, the plates come crashing down? Supporting each other and lifting each other up is the encouragement to keep going. You know that thing we tell our kids – that if they’re ever lost or in trouble, to ask a mom for help? That is true in all stages of life. When in doubt, ask a mom.” —Julie Jargon