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Many women experience a loss of confidence in motherhood. Psychology Dictionary Online defines self-confidence as an individual’s trust in his or her own abilities, capacities, and judgments, or belief that he or she can successfully face day-to-day challenges and...
Just as I find myself settling into the rhythm of school term, feeling more at ease with managing my paid work, the school run and other activities, other parents start talking about the next school holidays! They really do come around so quickly! School holidays are...
In this article, we hear from Rachel Preston Broughton, who has two beautiful children and generously shares with us her reflections on motherhood so far. Enjoy reading about the things Rachel wishes she had known back when she first became a mother. As a mum...
Recently, a beautiful woman in the More to Mum community asked me if you could ever give yourself too much self-compassion. She wondered if there was a point where you just had to take accountability for what you’ve done and do better. As I listened to her describe...
Have you felt resentment in motherhood? Resentment is one of those emotions that we wish we didn’t have, yet it can feel so justified. It’s not an enjoyable way to feel and most of us don’t want to be perceived as resentful or bitter. Women often feel guilty for...
Recently I was listening to a podcast, and I had to replay the first 10 minutes four times because my mind kept wandering! Do you find it hard to stay present in the moment? You're not the only one. I often get asked for advice about how to be more present in our...
We all make judgements all the time. We take in information and filter it through our own experiences, knowledge, and understanding of the world to make meaning and draw conclusions. But when we talk about feeling judged, we’re referring to people making critical,...
Nearly every mother I speak to wants strategies to stay calm and deal with stressful situations more effectively. We are mothering and living in stressful, uncertain times with incredible amounts of pressure placed on us to live up to unrealistic expectations. Our...
A man walks through the door and greets his wife. “What did you do today?”, he asks. “Nothing” she says in a weary tone. “I didn’t get anything done!” Truth is, she’s hardly taken a breath. She’s spent her entire day cleaning and tidying, preparing food, organising,...
Have you ever called yourself a bad mum, either out loud or in your mind? I certainly have and I know many other mums have too. I’ve been thinking about this label that we use. Why is it so prevalent? What does it even mean? And what is the impact of using it? I’m...
Society tells us that perfectionism is a good thing. Perhaps you too have been praised and rewarded for your high capacity, high standards, and meticulous work. You may have also believed that perfectionism was the same as trying your best and showing your commitment...
How would you define a strong woman? Perhaps you might use some of the following descriptions: Physically strong Confident Hard to persuade Unflappable Resilient Determined Independent In control Focused on her goals. I used to think that being a strong woman...
Automatic negative thoughts (ANTs) are stories that we tell ourselves that aren’t necessarily true. They are distortions or negative interpretations of ourselves, what is happening around us, the past or the future, based on our beliefs and assumptions. ANTs happen...
Have there been times when you have you kept quiet when you had something to say? For example, when... Someone crossed your boundary or hurt you? Another child mistreated your child? You didn’t want to do something you were being asked to do? You didn’t agree? Someone...
Sadness, burnout, fear, guilt, anxiety, loneliness, frustration, anger, resentment, shame, embarrassment, disgust. Mothers feel them. But often we don’t like to talk about them. What will people think? If perfect mum is always composed, in control, calm, happy, on top...
When my son was 4, he was playing in the playground after kindergarten and decided to give the monkey bars a try. He always watched the other children swinging across but still liked me to hold him as he moved his arms from bar to bar. This time he wanted to do it...
I know that we’re expected to be loving motherhood, sailing through each day with a smile on our faces. That’s the myth of the perfect mum. In reality, we all have bad days and we don’t have to pretend that everything is wonderful when it’s not. Allowing ourselves to...
When things aren't going the way we want them to, or we aren't coping as well as we think we should be, we can get caught up in criticising and judging ourselves. This can seem like a helpful and productive way to motivate ourselves to better actions and outcomes but...
From mid December and all the way through January we are surrounded by messages about reflecting on the year that is coming to an end and creating new year's resolutions. What did you achieve? What didn’t you achieve? How will you improve? What will you do next? Who...
I’ve had quite a lot of practice at dealing with overwhelm over the years. When I was younger, I was always so keen to be involved in everything and to do everything to my perfectionistic standards, that sometimes it all just became too much. I also had a tendency to...
This is part 2 of my 2-part blog post series on staying calm in the moment. Part 1 contains the first 16 strategies. You can find it here. I certainly needed my strategies for staying calm this week. How about you? Every mum experiences times when she doesn't feel...
Imagine that your partner said to you: “You look awful today. I can see your stomach bulging over your pants and you haven’t even bothered to put any makeup on. You’ve really let yourself go.” Imagine that your best friend said to you: “Wow your house looks...
Last week, my son suddenly became really ill. He went from bouncing around, and being his normal self, to being in pain, with a fever and hardly able to sit upright or keep his eyes open, within 30 minutes. After speaking to the Nurse on Call service, we ended up at...
The way you breathe affects your whole body and how you feel. That means if you change the way you breathe you can change the way you feel. In fact, it’s one of the fastest ways to change the way you feel. I can personally attest to this, as I've come to really love...
At the end of a long day, what plays on your mind? Is it something like any of these? The way you yelled at your son? That you were late to child care or school pick up because of your paid job? How you didn’t really listen when your daughter was telling you (for the...
Let’s start with a bit of reflection. How many of these things do you do? Change your opinions or decisions to match other people’s, even if they don’t align with your values? Feel like you’re at the mercy of everyone else’s needs and priorities, with nothing left for...
Enjoy every moment It’s the sort of thing that well-meaning people say when you’re preparing for the birth of your baby. They also say it when you’re talking wistfully about how fast your children are growing up. Or when you’re sharing something about mum life that...
Disclosure: This post contains an affiliate link, and at no additional cost to you, I’ll earn a small commission if you decide to purchase after clicking through the link. I’ll only ever recommend things that I love and believe will help you, and the decision to...
Do you ever feel like some day, someone is going to find out that you’re a great big fraud!? That someone is going to realise that you: Aren’t as good a mum as you seem to be Aren’t coping as well as you “should” be Have no idea what you’re doing in raising your...
This week I'm celebrating my 39th birthday. I’ve always loved getting older. For a long time, I’ve rounded up my age in the last 6 months before my birthday. Is that a bit strange? I think the reason I’m so excited about getting older is that I associate it with...