When I talk about being more than just a Mum, I don't mean doing anything spectacular or outrageous. I simply meaning having an interest or doing things outside the realms of the usual Mum stuff, that makes you feel good about yourself. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love being a mother to my three year old, but I also feel the need to have other interests in my life. I know there are some ladies out there who's sole focus is on being a mother and that's fine. Everyone is different.
I think my desire to be more than just a mum stems from having post natal depression after my daughter was born. (I will share my PND story another time). After my daughter was born, I really felt like I had lost who I was. All of a sudden, I was Sienna's Mum, not Belinda. I longed to have the old Belinda and my old life back. Part of my recovery from PND was to rediscover who I was and through this I realised I don't have to be just a mum. I can still be me and be a mum at the same time.
As I mentioned before, being more than just a Mum doesn't mean having to do anything spectatular. For me it was going to back to University and finishing my degree. When my daughter was about 6 months old, I decided to re-enrol in uni and I'm so glad I did. I was finally doing something that made me feel good about myself. When my daughter was 14 months old, i decided to go back to work part-time. Again, a brilliant decision for me. Here I was studing and working just like before I had my daughter, but I was also being a great Mum at the same time. I was starting to find my identity again. I graduated from uni this year so I have now taken up sewing in place of the time I was spending on study.
I personally, think it's important for Mum's to have a focus outside of our children. For me now, it's working part-time, sewing, and fitness. For me, all of this is a good balance between being my own person and being a good mum to my daughter.
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