Motherhood is often described as a journey, a beautiful adventure filled with love, growth, and endless joy – But what about those moments when it feels like you’ve lost your way in the midst of this journey? When the demands of parenting overshadow your sense of self, leaving you feeling adrift in a sea of nappies, tantrums, sleepless nights and later, a taxi service? Being lost in motherhood is a common experience, yet it’s one that often goes unspoken. In this article, I will explore the complexities of this journey, and offer some guidance on how to navigate through the wilderness of motherhood to find your way back to yourself.
The Dichotomy of Motherhood: Navigating Contrasting Realities
Motherhood is a beautiful contradiction – a whirlwind of chaos and calm, exhaustion and exhilaration, selflessness and self-discovery. It’s a journey where you often lose yourself, only to find a stronger, more resilient version of who you were meant to be.
5 Skills you can Add to Your CV After Becoming a Mum
When you have a baby, you have many complex decisions to make around work and childcare and how these things are going to work together. Family finances, how you feel, you baby’s needs, childcare availability and cost, all come into play. The lack of flexibility in the workplace and childcare settings can make this choice even harder, forcing many women to consider remaining at home with their child and/or starting their own business.
Motherhood without a manual
There’s no motherhood manual. Maybe you learn what you think you should do from watching others, from the way your were parented by your own mother, or other mother figure. Maybe you read books, or watch Supernanny even. I once knew someone who read Gina Ford and became an instant expert on all things baby – for about five minutes of motherhood.
*Guest Article*: Five steps to improve your mental health in motherhood
Dr Carla Runchman is a Clinical Psychologist, mum of one, founder of Mama Diary and author of ‘Mama Notes’, a notebook for the first 12 weeks of motherhood to help mums focus on their emotional well-being. Together with space to make notes on newborn essentials such as feeding and nappies, each week has a well-being focus with ideas or activities to try, and journal pages with prompts to help you reflect on the important moments of these early weeks.
A mother’s ‘worth’: can it be calculated?
When entering the world of parenthood, your world changes completely. Some, parents choose to become stay-at-home parents, some try to work from home and stay with their children and others head back into the world of work.
Each ‘option’ comes with its highs and lows, positives and negatives.
Busting 4 myths about being a mother
Females are often hardwired to nurture, give advice, and at times judge. We are all human at the end of the day and we each have our flaws, and our preferred ways of doing things, but sometimes the advice we get, or maybe a comment we have overheard really gets to us. There is no […]
Mother’s Day Gift Guide
Mother’s Day is fast approaching again. Have you got your gifts and cards organised? Personally I think the best Mother’s Day gifts are free – I’d be happy with half an hour to lie in the bath to be honest, or just a cuddle and a movie night with my favourite little people. If you […]