Waterwipes #ThisIsParenthood Project
Last month, Aubs & I went on our first big solo journey to London and back, and we survived! Sleepless night (me) and worrying (also me) wasn’t required after all. Why do I put so much pressure on myself? Does anybody else do this?
We had an incredible time with WaterWipes, whose project #ThisIsParenthood aims to bring parents together through shared experiences and to start an honest conversation around the realities of parenting. This couldn’t be more relatable to me right now. If you have read my previous blog post, you’ll know that I’ve been very open about my 4 month low / experience of postnatal depression, and that when it comes to social media, I’m a big fan of sharing my mummy highs AND equally lows with you all. I truly believe that the more open we all are with one another, the quicker we can realise that we really are all in the same “sicked on” boat, and every single one of us is good enough, and doing a great job (easier to write than to action I know - it’s a work in progress for me too!). It was so refreshing therefore, to help Waterwipes spread this positive message, so that together we can keep it real!
WaterWipes’ study on the realities of parenthood found 62% of UK parents feel like they’re failing, 47% of UK mums don’t talk openly about their parenting struggles for fear of being judged, and 42% of British parents claim social media adds to perfect parenting pressures - that’s a lot of negative self-talk going on, me included! .
One thing said at the event stuck with me, “openness inspires openness” and I couldn’t agree more! There’s a story behind every square you stare at as you scroll through Instagram. So scroll with caution people...and if it makes you feel s**t, unfollow. It’s easy to look at the picture above whilst you’re feeding at 3am and haven’t left the house all day, and then start to compare lives. What you don’t see in the image above is me attempting to get a shot whilst it was pouring down. I didn’t have an umbrella, I’d been up since 4.30am, had a fussing Aubs who needed to nap like half an hour ago and I wanted to climb in the pram myself - I was that tired. I was yet to whack on the pram cover because Instagram snap right? My pram was overflowing and my brain was like mush... so as I said, scroll with caution.
What I found when talking with all the other mamas at WaterWipes’ #ThisIsParenthood event, is that we all know that parenting is hard - incredible, amazing, and rewarding - but definitely hard. You are doing an awesome job, often better than we give ourselves credit for. Be kind to yourself, because we can’t pour from an empty cup. Our little ones don’t care if we look a mess, the house is a mess, and we feel like our lives are a mess, all they need is our love.
How many of you have experienced feeling overwhelmed as a parent? I’d love us to continue the conversation and share more! Let’s keep it real. Comment below with your mama realities, and let’s chat without judgment.
*THIS POST HAS BEEN KINDLY SPONSORED BY WATERWIPES, HOWEVER AS ALWAYS ALL IMAGES AND OPINIONS ARE OF MY OWN. THANK YOU FOR READING!