My idea of living the Snow White lifestyle is not what you might expect. It is not about having a fairy tale life. It’s not about glamour shots and makeup tutorials. It is not about posting pictures of my gourmet meals, beautiful baking, creative organization solutions or even cherished family memories. It’s not about making all your dreams come true.

Snow White is generally viewed in a negative light nowadays for it’s lack of feminist values. As a child and teenager I certainly wasn’t inspired by naive, domestic Snow White (although I would have given almost anything to have friendly forest animals flock to me in such a fashion). Watching the movie again as a parent, however, I noticed something different. The Snow White lifestyle is about cheerfulness.

Motherhood isn’t quite what I had expected. I was pretty clueless. I imagined one beautiful moment after another, with plenty of time in between to keep the house tidy and always have a delicious nutritious meal ready for my husband when he got home from work. Reality wasn’t quite like that. Motherhood is beautiful, but it is easy to feel like you are drowning under the relentless onslaught of chores, duties, and responsibility. I found myself focusing on what all needed to be done and all the ways I was falling short, and it was keeping me from being the person I wanted to be.

For me, Snow White was a reminder that life is what you make of it. I am not a master of the domestic arts. I am not a successful career woman, striking the perfect balance between work and family. The internet is full of inspirational women like this, but I found inspiration in the story of a girl dressed in rags, singing cheerfully as she scrubbed a floor.