I wanted to get parenting right. In my mind, you couldn’t afford to make mistakes as a parent. I’ve always tried my best but some days I still felt like that wasn’t good enough. No matter what I did or how hard I tried, I still felt like I was failing at being a mum.
So, I let parenting consume me.
I had lost ‘me’ and who I was and just became ‘mum’. Even when Kory had gone to bed, I couldn’t switch off. I was still parenting. It seemed I couldn’t stop, my needs and myself didn’t seem to matter to me anymore.
But this couldn’t last forever.
My partner noticed a change in me first, I was pushing myself to breaking point and I didn’t even realise it. Then one day, I felt myself losing it. I could no longer be patient, not just with Kory but with anything, any small changes or tasks just threw me off and I would end up having a meltdown at the slightest little thing.
I am a parent but i’m still me, couldn’t I find balance and be both?
I found becoming a parent such an overwhelming ordeal, especially with everything that happened with Kory after he was born. But with self help and help from my partner, I slowly started introducing the things I enjoy and loved back into my life, I started reading again, I took ‘me breaks’ and me and my partner started to spend more time together again. I realised that in order to be the best parent I could be, I had to look after myself too.
I will always strive to be the best mum that I can be but I won’t let it cost me myself and who I am again.
I like being me.
Life as The Lonsdales 