Ashley Graham Reveals the Tactic She Uses to Combat the Stresses of Motherhood

The mom-of-three said she has learned the art of patience and forgiveness.

Ashley Graham wears a total Schiaparelli look during Paris Fashion Week.Jeremy Moeller/Getty Images

Supermodel Ashley Graham has three children under the age of 3, which, needless to say, can be a handful. Her social media accounts are filled with posts about motherhood and its struggles.

Graham’s solution for combatting the overwhelming feelings that all moms know too well: owning it and asking for help. “I straight up say, ‘You know what? I feel overwhelmed.’ Sometimes it’s hard to do it in the moment and chaos,” she said in an interview with SheKnows. Graham noted that it’s important to be kind to yourself and know that “where you are is exactly where you’re supposed to be.”

The 34-year-old realizes how important and rejuvenating it can be to take a few minutes away from the children and she is grateful for the unconditional support of her husband, Justin Ervin, and her mother.

“I have become a lot softer, much more patient and forgiving not only of others, but of myself,” she said. “I’m much more forgiving of the mistakes that I make.”

Graham’s son, Isaac, 2, is leaning into being an older sibling. “He just loves being a big brother,” she said. “And I think that he understands the responsibilities that come with it to a certain degree.”

Twins Malachi and Roman, born just a year after their big brother, might be little, but their personalities are already starting to show.

“Roman is very laid-back,” she said. “Malachi is, like, scrappy and wants to be in everybody’s business.”

Graham and Ervin have figured out a way to maintain effective communication and connection even when life gets crazy. They have implemented a nightly “bookmark” system and it works wonders.

“We send ourselves like an asterisk with a word,” she explained. “And at the end of the day, every day, we go back to our bookmarks, and we say, ‘O.K., what was that story? What was that thing you wanted to talk about?’”