Mini Motherhood Series- Tamara

The mini motherhood series is simply a collection of interviews. I've reached out to the mothers in my world, both young and old, to glean wisdom and inspire a little bit of reflection.

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My first interview is with Tamara.

Home: New Plymouth, New Zealand

Age: 24 y.o.

Became a mum: 22 y.o.

Kids: One boy toddler and one boy baby due in April 2021

Work: Stay at home mum and casual admin at local gym

What is your 'go to' practical mum tip?

If you 'feel' something it's usually right. Also, re-pack your baby bag every night. 9 times out of 10 the craziness of getting ready the next day helps you to forget stuff.

Looking back, what would you say to yourself as you first embarked on motherhood?

Don't doubt your intuition or be scared to set boundaries with family/friends and even strangers. Also its okay to ask for help or feel overwhelmed...you'd be doing something wrong if it wasn't the case.

Knowing yourself as a mother now, what do you need to remind yourself?

As young as our babies are, is the same age we are as mothers: be gentle and very aware of how you speak to yourself as a mum. Its okay to have your moments, but it's the most important role we'll ever have and our kids only know us as someone they trust and love. To them we are simply a safe place.

Is there anything else you'd like to share with the readers?

Try and enjoy as much downtime with your little ones, it makes me sad how fast they grow and some days I find myself anxious in not 'getting enough done' until 'm holding my almost 2 year old son as he falls asleep and realise its only a sort amount of time I get to do this with him...keeping little humans alive is hard and we deserve to sometimes dislike it and wish for our old lives back!

Also, do whatever works for you I've learnt not to share everything i do with my son to people. Not everyone will agree, and in a world with so much 'information' the mum guilt can be real! Stuff it all, if you know you're doing something in the safest way possible or you've found something that's helpful and it benefits you and your family - keep going.

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I hope this has got you thinking. I was especially captured by Tamara's words about our age as a mother coinciding with the age of our baby. Prompts us to be a more gracious towards ourselves, right?

All the very best

J.M x