It’s May and that month of the year when we celebrate mother’s in every form of the word. Biological mums, step mums, mums of adopted children, foster carer mums, grandmums, great grandmums – there are so many maternal roles and, if anyone knows, we mums know it’s a tough gig.
Being a mum is generally as challenging as it is rewarding. For new mums especially, it’s a confusing, frustrating and immensely joyous time. Ironic, right? To commemorate Mother’s Day, we spoke to a few local celebrity mums to find out their tips for the newer Mother’s Club members among us. Here’s what they had to say (oh, and by the way, Happy Mother’s Day mummas!)…
Kat Springer – Blogger, The Organised Housewife
“I remember when I was pregnant with my twins I had visions at night times laying in bed reading books and snuggling up before bedtime. Thankfully my kids loved our evenings together reading stories and in addition when I put them to bed I used to sing each of the kids a song, each had their own song we sang together every single night… ‘Somewhere over the rainbow’ was my favourite with my eldest daughter. Now my kids are teenagers it’s different, we no longer read books together, but we do continue to spend every meal around the table together chatting about our day.”
Kelly Burstow – Blogger, Be a Fun Mum
“If I could go back in time, the one thing I would tell the new-mum version of myself is to embrace each parenting stage, with all its joys and challenges, and not wish it away by looking ahead at the ‘green grass’ of the next stage.”
Liz Cantor – 7News TV personality
“I expected motherhood to be challenging and busy, but mostly a learning experience, which it’s been. Motherhood is living with your heart walking (or crawling) around outside your body! And appreciating your own mother for the first time in a whole new way.”
Lise Carlaw – One half of HIT105 radio’s ‘Those Two Girls’
“I thought motherhood would make me a glorious hybrid of Mother Teresa and Justine Clarke from Playschool. But motherhood also amplified my not-so-saintly character traits – impatience, distraction, banshee-screaming, un-fluffy pancake making.
“I thought motherhood would afford me time to create photo albums and scrapbooks and ‘I LOVE YOU’ messages etched into bananas. But motherhood means that my iPhone camera roll is as full as Osher’s hair and not one proper photograph has ne’er been printed.
“But it’s glorious, rewarding, infuriatingly beautiful. Being a mother of boys defines me, enthralls me and lights up my heart like nothing else can. The flatulence humour, the doodle fixation, the noise, oh the noise! I’ll take it all and revel in it for as long as I can.”
Sarah Wills – The other half of HIT105 radio’s ‘Those Two Girls’
“The number of cheese sticks, hair ties, dried-out felt pens and Mt Fuji-sized laundry piles in my home have been a surprising motherhood outcome. Also, how often my girls need food. I mean, I know they have to eat but their faces are in the fridge and pantry at least 72 times per day. Whenever I hear ‘I’m hu—‘ it triggers an automatic reflex to break straight into the ol’ classic ‘EAT A PIECE OF FRUIT!’ mode. I’ve learned to embrace hearing my own mother’s lines regularly launch out of my mouth with the passion and fervour of a priest rattling off Bible phrases.
“Despite the above, I do like and love being a mother. When they sneak into my bed and their sleeping bods smooth against me like remoras on a shark. When we swap declarations of love: I tell them my love is the size of the galaxy, and my four year old tells me hers is the size of our lounge room (it’s all relative, I suppose.) When we all laugh together during a movie. When they crack jokes. When they throw their cheese-stick wrappers in the bin. Amazing.”
Margaux Parker – 92.5GOLDFM radio presenter
“If I could go back in time, the one thing I would tell the new-mum version of myself is it’s OK to feel overwhelmed and vulnerable. Trust yourself and don’t be afraid to ask for help.”
Emily Jade O’Keeffe – 102.9 Hot Tomato radio presenter
“I hire help. I will forgo new clothes for a cleaner. I’ll forgo dinners out for a guy to come and do the gardens. If I have to worry about those things, my husband and I don’t get a break on the weekends, so we got help and that makes us both so mentally happy which makes the household happy.
“If I could go back in time, the one thing I would tell the new-mum version of myself is that breastfeeding takes longer than you think, so make sure you have Netflix.”
Laura Churchill – Stylist and Brisbane Fashion Month director
“I remember thinking a lot about what kind of baby I would have but I didn’t think too much about what kind of mum I would be. It’s been interesting working all of that out as I go along and I’ve loved finding a whole new perspective on life as part of that – I don’t sweat the small stuff anymore. I have a big new focus and it’s the best thing ever.”
Edge Early Learning
