A while back I was thinking about how all the moms I know are different in many ways – be it their parenting style, or whether they go to work, stay at home, or work from home. Some have one little person, while others have three or four. Some of our babies began their journey inside us learning the sound of our heartbeat, whilst some began in another only to meet us later and hold our hearts forever. Whatever the differences in how we became moms, how we parent… Being a mom, plus ALL that comes with it, is what we all have in common.

And that’s how I came up with the idea for this feature – a short interview with regular moms like you and I. Here we’ll get to “meet” different mommies, and find out a little about them.

This week we meet Melissa, our second mommy blogger in the series. Melissa is such a lovely lady, and I was so happy to meet her at the recent Jozi meetup. And it’s a pleasure to feature her here today.

1. Please tell us a little – or a lot (we like details) – about yourself? 

I’m a journalist by day (well, currently doing PR) and a blogger by night. I’m a mother of a 17 month old daughter and my step-daughter is 22, living in Cape Town as a Chef de partie. Married to a music composer, my life is filled with toys, Tupperware, and music instruments laying around on the floor. I’m the first one to hear my husband’s creations. I find myself falling asleep when I put my youngest to bed. Husband will be working through the night on his music. I have to mention that Husband is normally the one who changes Princess’ nappies and who dresses her in the morning. He does it in a fun way – I always hear her laughing. My favourite food to cook is lentils. We enjoy travelling long distances with the car – my parents and other family live in other provinces.

2. What’s the one thing you find most challenging about being a working / stay at home mom?

I find it hard to work on my blog or to type anything at home, because my daughter stands on her toes and presses on the keyboard. I also find it hard to discipline my child. To her, “no” means “let’s go there and do the opposite of what mommy says”. She has a happy go lucky spirit, so how can you get angry at her? 

3. We all know there are challenging moments – moments which call for chocolate, or wine (or both), to soothe those mommy nerves… Forgetting all that though, what is your absolute favourite thing about being a mom? 

My child hugging my legs when I am busy doing the washing or the dishes. Just kissing her, and her smile, makes me happy. 

4. From the experience you’ve gained since becoming a parent, what is a pretty cool piece of advice you would give to other moms?  

I realised that my family members won’t tell me I’m doing a good job – so I have to remind myself of the little things I did to be a good parent. I don’t take for granted that my child eats vegetables daily, and you know there’s other small decisions you make that you will feel are best for your child. Remember, you are a good mother, because your child is smiling at you and loves you. You are good enough for your child. My mom used to say, “a mother is the light of the house” so remind yourself you are that light.
5. Share with us one of the funniest moments you’ve had since becoming a mom.

I seriously can’t think of any funny moments, but my child who is 17 months old started biting her dad and I two months ago. She would bite our thighs while standing in between our legs, or shoulders if you are carrying her. It’s annoying and makes a person nervous. We say “no” but she finds it funny. 

6. Please tell us where we can find you online.

Blog: Mel’s Postbox

Twitter: @melissa_nel

Thank you Melissa for giving us a glimpse into your life as a mom. 🙂

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A while back I was thinking about how all the moms I know are different in many ways – be it their parenting style, or whether they go to work, stay at home, or work from home. Some have one little person, while others have three or four. Some of our babies began their journey inside us learning the sound of our heartbeat, whilst some began in another only to meet us later and hold our hearts forever. Whatever the differences in how we became moms, how we parent… Being a mom, plus ALL that comes with it, is what we all have in common.

And that’s how I came up with the idea for this feature – an interview with regular moms like you and I. Here we’ll get to “meet” different mommies, and find out a little about them.

This week we meet Carly, our first mommy blogger in this Meet the Mommy series. I’ve been following Carly’s blog for a while now, and I especially love her sense of humor which comes through in her posts. I recently had the chance to meet her in person, at the #JoziMeetup mommy bloggers event, and I’m so happy to feature her here today.

1. Please tell us a little – or a lot (we like details) – about yourself?

I’m at 35 year old married stay-at-home mom of 2 little girls, 2 cats and 2 birds. I’m originally from Zimbabwe (my heart home). I lived in the UK for 10 years where I met my South African husband. We moved back to Africa after we got married, and started our family here. Our girls were born in Zimbabwe, and shortly after my youngest was born we moved to SA. We move a lot due to the nature of the industry my husband works in (Construction) and I’m slowly ticking off the SA provinces I’ve lived in the past four years: Mpumalanga, Gauteng, Northern Cape, and the Free State. I love living in Africa, I am most definitely, a child of Africa. I have also had both hips replaced, nearly two years ago now – best thing I ever did. I am also a huge fan of Grey’s Anatomy and … surprise surprise … Wine! In my spare time (don’t laugh) I do a bit of freelance copy-editing and proofreading. I think that covers almost everything. Maybe a little too much information.

2. What’s the one thing you find most challenging about being a working / stay at home mom?

I’m a Stay-At-Home-Mom for now, I’m waiting for my SA Resident Permit to come through (nearly 2 years waiting now) and then I might consider going back to work part-time, unless my blog takes off and earns me a tonne of cash. I love being available for my kids and family whenever they need me, but it can be quite a lonely life. Contrary to popular belief, us SAHMs don’t actually spend all day gyming, shopping or getting our nails and hair done.

3. We all know there are challenging moments – moments which call for chocolate, or wine (or both), to soothe those mommy nerves… Forgetting all that though, what is your absolute favourite thing about being a mom?

The absolute trust and belief in me that my kids have. They truly believe I can do almost anything they need, except open the over-tight soda bottles. It’s a huge responsibility to live up to but very humbling.

4. From the experience you’ve gained since becoming a parent, what is a pretty cool piece of advice you would give to other moms?

Don’t judge – I’m guessing that’s not cool, but you really shouldn’t judge unless you have all the facts (I think it’s actually very cool, quite brilliant advice Carly). Or if you do, keep it to yourself. I found a cool quote the other day that I had to share on my Instagram – it goes like this:

“Don’t judge people for the choices they make, when you don’t know the options they had to choose from.”

5. Share with us one of the funniest moments you’ve had since becoming a mom.

My kids amuse me constantly. I think it’s especially funny when I hear them repeating my words to each other, scary too. I do put a lot of it up on my blog, but the best that stands out for me wasn’t something they said, it was something they did. We were in the Drakensburg and had spent the day busy doing Zip-Lining and exploring the area. When we got back to the lodge we were staying in, my husband and I were busy unpacking the car and the kids ran ahead of us to the kitchen, absolutely dying of thirst (apparently).  A few minutes later my husband and I walked in to find the eldest daughter on her hands and knees in front of the fridge, with the younger one standing on her back to reach the juice on the higher shelf. It was so funny and clever at the same time, and they were so proud of themselves. I did take a picture of them (ever speedy with my camera phone) and it’s the best example of “Team Crawford” to date.

6. Please tell us where we can find you online:

I’m on my blog, obviously: Mom Of Two Little Girls

Twitter: @momof2lgs

Instagram: @momoftwolittlegirls

Pinterest: momoftwolittleg

Google+: Mom Of Two Little Girls

Thank you Carly for giving us a glimpse into your life as mom of two little girls. 🙂

A while back I was thinking about how all the moms I know are different in many ways – be it their parenting style, or whether they go to work, stay at home, or work from home. Some have one little person, while others have three or four. Some of our babies began their journey inside us learning the sound of our heartbeat, whilst some began in another only to meet us later and hold our hearts forever. Whatever the differences in how we became moms, how we parent… Being a mom, plus ALL that comes with it, is what we all have in common.

And that’s how I came up with the idea for this feature – an interview with regular moms like you and I. Here we’ll get to “meet” different mommies, and find out a little about them.

Today we meet Prakashnie, a good friend, and a great mommy whom I’ve known for just over twenty years.

1. Please tell us a little – or a lot (we like details) – about yourself?

Wow, I haven’t been asked about myself in over 5 years… lol. From the minute everyone found out I was pregnant with my first child they always ask about the kids. Even the guard at school greets Kian with a big, loud “HELLO MR K, HOW ARE YOU TODAY AND HOW ARE YOUR BABY SISTERS”, then I get a soft barely audible “Morning Madam”. I feel like my only identity outside of the work environment is that I am a mom! Okay, so I am a 35 year old working mom with 3 beautiful kids, a 5 year old boy and twin 17 month old girls. I love travelling and spending quality time with my family when I am not feeding my shopping addiction. 🙂

2. What’s the one thing you find most challenging about being a working / stay at home mom?

My kids are too little at the moment but I am sure the day will come when I have to miss something because I am a working mom…. thankfully that day hasn’t arrived yet. The twins and I even attended Kian’s grandparents picnic cause it looked like so much fun and we didn’t want to miss out.

3. We all know there are challenging moments – moments which call for chocolate, or wine (or both), to soothe those mommy nerves… Forgetting all that though, what is your absolute favourite thing about being a mom?

My absolute favourite thing about being a mom is knowing that I have been blessed with 3 precious souls who feel that I am the most important person in their lives. My favourite part of the day is arriving home to 3 little faces pushed up against the gate (because they heard the garage door opening) screaming “MUMMY” with the biggest smiles all rushing over to give me hugs and kisses, all piling on my lap at the same time almost dropping me over with excitement. My favourite thing about being a mom is being called mom. 🙂

4. From the experience you’ve gained since becoming a parent, what is a pretty cool piece of advice you would give to other moms?

My one piece of advice would be never wake a sleeping baby… ever!

5. Share with us one of the funniest moments you’ve had since becoming a mom.

Oh my word, there are so many. When I told Kiasha she’s my good girl (because she ate her meal all by herself) and she said “I know” without even batting an eye, or when I told Kianna she’s my sweetie pie and she replied “No, I’m cutie pie”. At the tender age of 1 when the random words are turning into really cute sentences… it just melts my heart.

Thank you Prakashnie, for giving us a glimpse into your life as a mommy. ❤