Parenting Back

Dear Less-Than Perfect Mums

We don’t know how you do it. Sure we can imagine, but we would rather offer you support – a shoulder to lean or cry on. Yes, everyone has said how beautiful motherhood will be, but it’s also quite overwhelming. Especially, when “everyone” continues to provide their advice: from the correct way to hold your baby to when you should introduce solids into their diet. Funnily enough, almost all suggestions are accompanied by a horror story of some awful sort. No amount of google searching on ‘How to be a great mother’ will fully prepare you for how you will feel when someone freely offers their ‘helpful’ advice. Sure, it may be well-meaning, but no mum wants to be told what’s best for her child, certainly not while she is discovering this the most tried and tested way: by being a mother one day at a time.

Social media plays a big role in our lives today, and logging onto Facebook to upload the latest pic of your little one and share their cuteness with your friends and family can be exciting; and it’s certainly normal. However; not so much when that excitement is cut short by an annoyingly perfect picture of an acquaintance with her 1-week old baby. How does she do it? Does she have a private team of beauty experts at her beck and call? Stop. Wipe that baby puke off yourself and take a deep breath. Why are you even making a comparison? Your messy bun and mum jeans are just fine. Really. This is your version of motherhood, and that means you can be whatever you want to be because quite frankly, motherhood is not a ‘one size fits all’ pair of leggings. It’s about finding what works best for you and your baby, and being proud of that, messy hair and all.

So don’t let the heavily filtered Instagram shots of celeb parents or the neighbour next door undermine how you feel about yourself. You brought a human into the world and that is an incredible achievement. How you intend to raise that tiny human is entirely up to you and your partner. And, if you don’t have a partner to help you navigate and celebrate in your baby’s development, then all the more power to you. Motherhood is not a picnic or a Pinterest party, it has highs and lows, and all those indescribable moments in between. Most importantly, it’s what you choose to make of it.

Give yourself a break; forget the dishes and focus on the journey. Cutting yourself some slack is a definite must-do. Everyone deserves some TLC, most especially mums!

With Love,

The BabyLove Team