Motherhood is hard, even for one of the world’s best athletes. Tennis pro Serena Williams reached out on her Instagram last Sunday pleading with moms everywhere for advice about her teething baby. Williams listed all of the methods she’s tried so far, all to no avail.
“Teething- aka the devil – is so hard. Poor Alexis Olympia has been so uncomfortable. She cried so much (she never cries) I had to hold her until she fell asleep. I’ve tried amber beads… cold towels…. chew on mommies fingers…. homeopathic water (lol on that one) but nothing is working. It’s breaking my heart. I almost need my mom to come and hold me to sleep cause I’m so stressed. Help? Anyone??”
Fans quickly came to Williams’ support on Instagram, sharing their own remedies for a fussy teething baby which spanned the range of frozen binkies and towels, medication, raw onion (?!) and…a copper coin?
Whereas on Twitter, being Twitter and all, fans just made a bunch of jokes:
Sounds like motherhood is Serena's new Grand Slam challenge… Her baby is now 3.5 months old. https://t.co/hwviu3tzVe
— Mark Dreyer (@DreyerChina) December 17, 2017
Tell her about how Maria Sharapova thinks she's your rival. She'll be laughing too hard to think about teething anymore! https://t.co/jH3Kh4E6Kj
— Dawn Summers (@realdawnsummers) December 17, 2017
Although others pointed out how nice it is that even the super talented have a hard time when it comes to raising kids. Many provided words of encouragement:
Something poetic about motherhood being difficult even for the greatest athlete in the world ❤️ https://t.co/hOWGFo0NYI
— Taé T (@__Rocka) December 17, 2017
This is every single new parent. We’ve all been there. It is so tough and it is completely okay to want your mom and to want sleep and to want to cry for a hundred years.
— Books and Tea and Blankets (@RellyAB) December 17, 2017
People rarely talk about how heart breaking being a new parent is. 11 months in almost and every time I struggle to get her down for a nap I feel like a failure, like this is it!
We need to be reminded we are good enough to be great parents https://t.co/sv218ivqL7— The Pastor's Husband (@liamrulz) December 17, 2017
A good mummy mantra to practice: "this too shall pass" ??
— Joanna Gasiorowska (@JoGasiorowska) December 17, 2017
Do get your mom Serena, she’s literally being there and done that. She is probably the best help you can get at the moment. This stage will pass. it gets better, promise.
Motherhood is breaking the worlds most accomplished sportswoman down. Damn. https://t.co/QuP4jhQAnQ— Dr. Ameenah (@amkmusty) December 17, 2017
The rest of us are out here like…that Versace bib, though:
So we’re just gonna casually ignore the Versace bib????? https://t.co/vFKioQHNtO
— HAVE A THICC HOLIDAY (@AnnieMaLove) December 17, 2017
See?! Parenting hard for everyone, even Gold medal Olympians whose baby wears Versace. Still hard. https://t.co/P9CdfzLo12
— Lindsey Hurd (@lindseyhurd) December 17, 2017
Fam Serena got her child drooling on a Versace bib bless ? https://t.co/2uehiEIANs
— lani.奥兰 (@dontbetheprey) December 17, 2017
I’m stuck on the Versace bib like… pic.twitter.com/tFF6spzvbl
— Plain Jane (@ISSAhairflip) December 17, 2017