A mum’s story

I always wanted to be a mum. It was just one of those things. While the girls of my age had big dreams, goals and aspirations… me saying “I want to be a mum” was a bit embarrassing so I never said it out loud. But my nearest and dearest always knew… my big dream was to have a family, my own eco system. Where I had my own little ones to raise, cookies to bake.

And then, by the passage of time and struggling for 4+ years I had my first born. I cant not tell you everything came to me as if this is what I was born for. Although sleep deprived and tired and exhausted… and obviously an unpaid job, but my baby’s smile made everything worth it. His giggles washed away my sorrows, his hugs made the saddest day the most brightest. Then came my daughter. At first I was hesitant, I was scared to think is it even possible for me to love another child as much as I love my first. To my surprise, love only grew. It expanded like the universe. No shame in admitting the love isnt the same for both kids, for they came in very different circumstances. I became more confident with the second one. More experienced, more understanding of their needs. But one things is for sure, the part where they both hug me at the same time… part of me just wants to never let go.

Motherhood for me has been hard in the average way it is for so many women. The sleep deprivation, the feeling of not being alone but a little lonely sometimes. But it has been so many good things too. It has made me stronger, it has made me patient, it has made me forgiving and it has given me purpose. And when I weigh the positives with the negatives, life doesnt seem so bad after all.

Some people say having children is selfish, it isnt a lie. But its the best possible kind of selfishness… because the happiness and the warmth I get from my kids… all that love I feel for them, money cant buy. The life I want to give them, the people I hope to see them grow into. It gives my life purpose. Without them I dont think I could have been this fulfilled.

So this is what it feels to be a mum for me, what it means to me. And if I had to do all of it all over again, I wont change a thing.

in our community

No sitter but cant let myself go into postpartum depression

Brought my little girl to my lash appointment she was so well behaved thank god !!!! Any other mamas end up bringing their kid to their maintenance appointments ?

Cancelling Easter…

So my step son (11) lives with us full time we’ve started with an issue of him stealing little stuff from school, taking his brothers clothes from his mums here without anyone knowing ect but now
He’s also got the habit of taking chocolate and crisps out the kitchen to the point of he’s eating all my 1 year olds snacks like the 6month+ wafers and then he’s got no snacks. I’m buying loads of stuff to last us the month and he’s going through them within less then a week 🫠 (he never gets told no to snacks either unless it’s just before a meal then he gets told to wait until after hes ate)
He has now gone through all the chocolate we hid for Easter that was also his two little brothers and he’s gone through the stuff my mum brought round for them. So now iv got just over a week with hardly any money to try and get all the Easter stuff back. We’ve sat and spoke about it and why he feels like need to just take and we get a “i don’t know” or “it’s just snacks”

My thing is should I re buy him Easter stuff or leave it as a “you’ve already had you Easter early behind our backs” he’s not missing out completely because he has Easter at his mums but I feel like there’s nothing more we can do other then put locks on cabinets so he can’t get in them but that’s just stopping him from getting to the thing he wants not necessarily him learning 🤷🏻‍♀️
My partners just in that “can’t be arsed” “just replace it” where we have 1 child together and 2 step children and a baby on the way so just constantly going out and replacing stuff really isn’t happening ☹️ he’s agreeing with not giving him anything for Easter but I feel guilty about it but he has teqnically had his Easter + more…

We have also spoken to his mum about it and she just says she has locks on the doors and she did it as a kid and laughs about it which just feels like shes validating what he’s doing.

Sorry for the rant just wanted to see other people opinions and views as I feel so guilty to cancel Easter for him but at the same time we don’t have the money to re buy everything he’s gone through 🫠

Weaning

My baby girl is almost 7 months old and we've been trying to wean her for a month, but she refuses to eat the food she'll play with the food and maybe if we're lucky suck on some of it. Am I doing something wrong or is this normal

Am I doing something wrong?

I went for brunch with a new mum friend, both our little boys are 7 months. My LO would not sit at and tbh he rarely does, he had just had a feed and nap, I also offered him a banana which he had half of and convinced him to play with multiple toys but he either wanted to bounce on my lap or for me to walk around with him and eventually got cranky/whingy. I wasn’t able to finish my food. The other LO was sitting calmly the whole time and chewing on his teether. I even offered my LO a teether. Am I doing something wrong, am I spoiling him by picking him up constantly if he’s not crying and just whinging 😅

Feeling guilty for resting

This may sound silly but if I ever get a chance to ‘rest’ or have 5 mins to myself i have this guilty feeling that i should be doing something baby related? Am I the only one?

I have always been quite an organised person so when it comes to babies nap time I don’t usually have any tasks to do. For example, he’s having a nap right now and I’ve made myself a cup of tea and sat down on the sofa, and I feel like I shouldn’t be doing this. Am I being silly ?

Is yogurt enough breakfast for a 7month old?

I'm really struggling with weaning and feeling like I'm failing my child.

I've always just been a cereal for breakfast skip lunch kinda person.

If you have advice or easy ideas please drop them below.

I'm also struggling with PPD so I'm really struggling with motivation when it comes to cooking etc.