Moms are loving James Van Der Beek’s relatable post about holidays with five kids

Celebrity lives seemed perfect before the onset of social media, and now they look downright unfair. But there’s a handful of famous parents who like to keep it real on their feeds, and we thank them for that.

With Easter in the rearview, James Van Der Beek shared a couple photos of his wife Kimberly and their five kids sitting in an orchard post-egg hunt and video from the day’s festivities. Most of the girls donned vintage spring dresses that looked straight out of a fairytale. The visuals looked magical, but the caption proved to be the ultimate Instagram vs. reality comparison and something all parents can relate to.

“Our house is a mess,” the actor bluntly began his lengthy message. “We had no water for half the day so there are dishes piled up. I spent two hours installing a zip line that didn’t work. A dog peed in our entryway. @vanderkimberly and I got into a spat about something so dumb I honestly couldn’t explain my side if I tried. Brunch never even came close to happening, and dinner slid into some kind of weird no-man’s land where I ended up making smoothies everybody fought over. And the kids were almost impossible to wrangle to bed.”

He concluded the message by quipping about how people tend to show only their best sides on social media: “Other than that, it was as perfect an #Easter as it looks on Instagram. “

Parents are loving Van Der Beek’s behind-the-scenes peek at life with five kids.

One woman commented, “I love this. Thank you. I dropped the ball on treats, we didn’t do a hunt, and we had pancakes for dinner. ❤️❤️❤️”

Another wrote, “Haha life with kids summed up!!! I feel you!”

” True for so many of us with little ones. Those cute moments in between the madness make it all worthwhile ❤️,” commented another user.

It’s so easy to get caught up in trying to make holidays perfect for our kids, isn’t it? Van Der Beek spent two hours trying to set up a zip line so his children would have a memorable Easter. Was he successful? Nope. Did they still have a great day? It sure looks like it.

We love Van Der Beek’s honest look at life with five busy kids. You’re not always going to get everything right. But if your kids are happy and healthy, we consider that a win.

This isn’t the first time Van Der Beek’s been vulnerable with his followers. Although he and Kimberly share five children together—10-year-old Olivia, 9-year-old Joshua, 7-year-old Annabel, 5-year-old Emilia and 2-year-old Gwendolyn—they’ve also suffered five miscarriages, which the Dawson’s Creek star has opened up about on social media. Most recently, he shared an emotional post about breaking the tragic news to his kids.

“I feel like all you can do when explaining the unimaginable is be present with them,” he wrote at the time. “And keep being present with them wherever they’re at, for as long as they need. You can’t process for them, you can’t mitigate their pain, and you can’t dictate their timeline. They all broke down at different times – and for different reasons. Some still talk about it. Some don’t like to. But I encourage anyone going through this to be as open and honest as we encourage our kids to be about it. When life cracks you open… let your loved ones in. We’re not made to go through this alone.”

This advice may be about children, but it can pertain to adults, too. To anyone who’s experienced pregnancy loss, know that you’re not alone. Your loved ones are here for you, you just have to let them in.