Tennis superstar Serena Williams made headlines last week when she admitted to struggling with parenthood.
She took to Instagram after a tough week and feeling like she wasn’t being the best mum.
She posted about the guilt she felt by going back to work and training and celebrated the mums who could find the balance.
First of all, I bow down to her.
In a world full of mummy bloggers and instamama’s showing off their perfectly applied makeup and manicured hands in a perfect selfie holding a baby who sleeps through the night – it’s actually nice to see someone put their hand up and tell it like it is.
My daughter turns one on Friday.
It has been the absolute best year of my life. But also the hardest.
Before she was born I thought I knew what tired meant. I didn’t.
She has not slept through the night since she was 12 weeks old. And it’s not like she wakes up once, it’s every three hours (if I am lucky).
But for all the sleep in the world I wouldn’t change a thing.
Those baby giggles are like energisers – a couple of them and you’ll feel like you’ve had at least five hours of uninterrupted sleep (ah to dream).
I also found breastfeeding particularly difficult and felt the wave of pressure to continue despite severe pain, mastitis and blood blisters.
Back then I dreaded feeding time, but now I actually enjoy that one-on-one time with my little baby.
I too, returned to work earlier than planned although I had the benefit of working for Star News Group casually, from home and choose my own hours.
The guilt of using her nap time to catch up on stories instead of doing a load of washing or vacuuming the house can also take its toll.
There’s a silent but very loud expectation that the woman should have it all together. A happy baby, a clean house and dinner prepared.
But like, Serena Williams – I’m here to say sometimes it’s impossible to get it all done.
Some days my little one has spent the better part of the day screaming or whinging and wanting to be held all day.
And that makes it hard to hang the washing up or empty the dishwasher.
Hell, sometimes it’s difficult to have a shower or to even change out of my pyjamas.
I live in active wear even though I have no real plans to be active (unless you count crawling on the floor playing with blocks as active).
I’m all about comfort. I can even go a week without washing my hair (thank god for dry shampoo).
And who cares. Life is full of surprises. My life has changed 100 per cent. But I wouldn’t change it for the world.
Who knows, I might even go back for another one sooner rather than later.
– Melissa Meehan
