Why a Sydney mum's 'real' photo of her four kids at a cafe is being heaped with praise.

Parenting is hard work.

Throw in the pressure of seeing picture perfect parents all over your Instagram feed and it becomes a whole lot harder.

But while some mums seem to have it all together on social media, one Sydney mum has shared a completely honest account of her life with four kids – and fellow parents are absolutely loving it.

Sharing a photo of her four children sitting at a cafe to a Facebook mums group, Carly Hall shared the post “to cheer anyone up if they think they’re failing as a mum today”.

“I slept in and just couldn’t get my seven-year-old ready for school today,” Carly wrote. “So she just didn’t go… then I got two of them slurpees, while the younger two slept, just so I could have a coffee in peace (on a separate table), and scroll through Facebook while ignoring them.”

“Thought you might like to use this as a yardstick.”

The mum-of-four's post quickly went viral on Facebook with scores of parents thanking Carly for her brutally honest post.

"It's nice to see other mums sharing their not so 'perfect' days. There are a lot of fake Instagram moments that can make us feel like we are really screwing up, when really, no one really has any real clue. We are all flying by the seat of our pants," one woman commented.

"Finally... someone who doesn't post about their perfect life," another person wrote.

"Good on you for sharing! And you know what, everyone was happy! Sometimes, a little me time over a good coffee, is enough to recover your sanity. And as a mother of four, you deserve a medal anyway," another said.

Speaking to Mamamia, Carly shared her motivation behind posting the photo.

"There is just so much pressure on mums to be perfect. And no one is – but I think, especially through social media, mums get the impression that all other mums have it together," Carly told Mamamia.

"I think it's reassuring for people to see that they actually don't [have it together]. And you know, we all enjoy seeing someone doing a worse job than we are. And I'm OK being that person!

"I see posts from other mums taking their kids to the museum and making Pinterest lunch boxes and here I am putting on Octonauts and burning their nuggets," the mum added.

"I posted it hoping to show other mums that not everyone has it together all the time – and that's OK."

What do you think? Let us know in the comments down below.