“Do you ever feel smothered, like you get too much help?” This was a question one of the dads asked me at a recent talk I did. It was a really interesting question, and quite insightful. We’d been discussing how important it is to ask for help, how there is no shame in admitting that you need support; which is something I always tell others, but manage to often forget myself. But… Can you get too much help?? And to answer the question (again), yes and no. (Super helpful, right?) Ok, I probably need to clarify a bit there. Yes, it is possible to have too much help, but no, I…
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5 Questions to Ask Yourself to Figure Out Who You Are
It can be easy as a parent to lose a bit of yourself in parenthood. For a while your whole life, out of necessity, revolves around the beautiful tiny people who inhabit your home; which doesn’t leave much room for, well, anything else really. For many parents who have more than one child, this can mean years of holding this parent role first and foremost, so it’s not surprising that the person you were pre-children becomes a distant memory – almost like you’re thinking of a completely different person. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though! Parenthood is wonderfully fulfilling and enriching, and so it’s completely normal for it to…
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How To Find Your Inner Strength
I was lying awake in bed the other night with a phrase stuck in my head: “It’s no coincidence the words ‘struggle’ and ‘strength’ have the same beginning but completely different endings” – so I thought we should explore that further. It’s easy to look at “strong” people and think “wow, I wish I had it easy like them” or “I wish I had their confidence” or “they’re so brave, I could never be like that”. But actually, strong people have struggles, they have insecurities, they have anxiety. We only see other people’s outer selves. I remember once when I wasn’t in a good headspace someone said to me “I…
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Why I Love Washing My Son’s Dirty Clothes
When my Eldest Little Man was younger, he was the “Move First, Think Second” kind of kid – as most little kids are. And some big kids, come to think of it. But anyway… Eldest Little Man was wild, energetic and loud. His imagination knew no boundaries. He always had ripped knees, holey shoes and muddy hands. You get used to it, as a mother. You still roll your eyes and grumble about having to buy new clothes again, but you get used to it. Eldest Little Man was the kid who arrived at his karate class, ran continuous laps around the dojo, took the class (while being reminded often to stay still…
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LOVE (in real life)
Love is a wonderful thing. I consider myself so incredibly lucky to have found such a strong connection with someone, to have found my soul mate – in fact, before I met him, I didn’t actually “believe” in soul mates, so this meeting brought a huge shift in the way I viewed love. However, as I’ve talked about before, having kids changes a relationship. The relationship isn’t necessarily better or worse, it’s just different. Life gets busier, time seems to fly by, and the time that used to be spent simply bonding with your other half is now often few and far between. In tiredness and hunger, words can become harsher,…
