When Dominique of Dominque’s Desk proposed that we did a blog train on Embracing Motherhood, I immediately knew I wanted to write something but I really didn’t quite know what I was going to write about. So boarding the blog train from where Estella of Sooddlydreamlike left off….I will attempt to tell you more about myself as a mother…

I struggle a lot with motherhood. Well to be more exact, I struggle a lot with motherhood as a full-time working mother. Some of us choose to be full-time working mothers (FTWM) while others choose to be stay home mothers (SAHM) and others manage to find something in between. Is there really a right answer to this or a balance between being a mother and being in the workforce?

My kids both started going to infant care at the earliest possible age that any infant care centre would accept them (2-3 months old). I had a lot of mummy guilt over this. I admit that it gets better especially when I know my kids are enjoying school and love being around their friends. While I don’t regret putting my kids in childcare, I think they have gained a lot out of it (another conversation for another time 🙂 )  But that doesn’t mean I don’t feel horrible when my kids are the last to be picked up.

Jah’s first day at Infant care

Bella’s first day at Playgroup and learning to self-feed

Wishing me Happy Mother’s Day outside school

There are days where I just wish that I could stay home with my kids, bring them out for a weekday movie or just bring them wherever they want and just spend some quality time with them. These are the days that really get me down.

There are also days where I question my choice of being a full-time working mother and then I pinch myself. :p Because as much as all the mummy guilt kills me and as much as I want to want to spend time with my kids (especially on their good days 😉 ). I am also fully aware of the ‘type’ of mother I am.

I am the ‘type’ of mother who is not naturally good at the arts and crafts. I am the ‘type’ of mother who will find it really challenging to think of creative ways to teach English and Math to my kids. I am also the ‘type’ of mother who will occasionally need a break from my kids (which I currently get when I’m at work). I hope this doesn’t label me as a bad mother but hopefully just an honest one? 🙂

I am the ‘type’ of mother who loves to plan holidays for my family. I am the ‘type’ of mother who loves to imagine how much fun my kids will have and how much they can learn during our family travels and then try to create those moments for them. And to be honest again, my husband and I will not be able to provide those moments if we were not full-time working parents.

First time agreeing to take a photo without mummy or papa

Family pic!

Enjoying and exploring the green green grass in Perth

Learning to be brave..braver than mummy :p

So the occasional mummy guilt aside, I am this ‘type’ of mother therefore I have chosen to be a full-time working mother. There is really no perfect answer for this. Perhaps one day my approach, experience and skills may change and I will learn and become a different ‘type’ of mother. Until then I am embracing motherhood the way I know how and I think we will be just fine for now. 🙂

Bottomline is I’m the ‘type’ of mother they love and I love being their mother.

This is part of a blog train titled “Embracing Motherhood” and what our individual journey means to us. Click on the badge below to find out what motherhood means to 25 other blogger moms!

Up next is Yanxiang

By day, Yanxiang is a civil servant who has taught English in a secondary school, and am now working on policies within the larger civil service. Her work allows her to constantly consider the people around her, and society in which she live, and how to better the lives of her fellow citizens.

She recently embarked on the remarkable journey of parenting a little boy named Isaac. Read about her life as a parent and how it involves twice the laughter, twice the tears, twice the excitement, twice the challenges and an abundance of love at thelittlestandusmakesthree.wordpress.com

JahBella’s Mummy