Dear Hannah 10 years ago today you arrived in this world 6 weeks before we expected to meet you. I remember that first night sitting by your humidcrib, in the wee hours of the morning, just holding your hand and wishing I could hold you close. You probably don’t remember that when you were…
Last week I was invited to speak to around 15 local mums with young babies, many of them were first time mums. When I was contemplating what I wanted to share with them I decided to share some things I wish someone had told me when I had my first baby. I feel like there…
I am a mother. I am always busy. Doing. Doing. Doing. You are a mother. I bet you feel like you are always busy. Doing. Doing. Doing. I crave the ability to be still, stop doing so much and yet when an opportunity to do just that I suddenly discover deep discomfort surfacing. Even a…
Recently the overall mood in our house had become one of niggling, kids fighting, frustration and so on. Around it went in circles every day, the negative energy feeding on itself as we all became more and more tightly wound and reactive. Finally it reached a point where my husband and I could not stand…
Mother’s Day … it is a day so full of expectation. There is this strong desire within Mothers around the world to feel valued, loved and appreciated. Let’s face it, motherhood can often feel like a thankless job. I have had eight Mother’s Days so far and until this year they have all been really…
Having children changes relationships, in many positive ways but also in many stressful or challenging ways. I know how easy it is for a relationship to slip into what I call “logistic” mode once you have kids. Logistic mode is when you realise the only things you communicate about are the logistics of your family…
I met Emma this year as a Mum at our new school. She was warm, friendly and I instantly liked her. I had no idea initially how awesome she is. I first became aware of this after she gave a talk here, early in the year, about body image and her journey with bulimia. I…
Motherhood changes many things in our life. With the joy and blessing of babies and young children often comes challenges in the important relationships in our life – with our partner, our close family and our friends. In fact in my online program, 5 Minutes 4 Mum, we spend an entire week exploring how to…
Last week I became aware of something that really fascinated me. I became aware that even after all my years improving my own self care and working with Mums to improve theirs … I still have some very unhelpful thoughts about spending money on my own needs! Unhelpful thoughts are one of the very first…
There are lots of things my husband is wonderful at but having “real” conversations is not one of them. What do I mean by “real”? I mean conversations that explore an idea or emotion widely, deeply. A conversation that isn’t rushed. A conversation that is not about task lists, weekend plans or children’s behaviour. For…