I only recently “met” fellow mommy blogger Kirsten, and I’m so glad that I get to feature her on my blog, and learn more about her. I knew we’d get along great as soon as I read the words, “I’m a traveler at heart”. ? Read the interview to find out more about this lovely mommy.

In case you missed last week’s feature, you can find it here: Meet the Mommy [Week 18] – Cherralle from My Daily Cake

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

Wow. Where do I start? I am mom to an almost-12-month old and a mini-daxie, and wife to Dave aka the Beard. Besides that, I teach English as a foreign language, teach teachers to teach English as a foreign language (you still with me?), write, and blog.

I’m a very happy Southern suburbs mom now, but I’m a traveler at heart. I went overseas after university for a year, and came back 8 years later ? so I think there’ll always be a part of me that wants to travel and see the world. And I hardly ever say no to a glass of wine.

2. What’s the one thing you find most challenging about being a work from home mom?

I love the fact that I can work from home (most of the time) because I get to be around Baby J so much more than if I had to go to work every day. The challenge is actually getting things done! Because I have the freedom to create my own schedule every day, I sometimes find myself doing errands, or making food for J, or taking him to play dates, rather than actually getting any work done. Often I find myself working at night or on weekends, but to be honest I wouldn’t change a thing.

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?

Hearing Baby J laugh. We’ve always been a household that enjoys a lot of laughter and has a lot of fun, but there is nothing better than hearing your child laugh – and nothing worse than hearing them cry.

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?

Take a step back and don’t be shy to ask for help. There is no need to do everything yourself. It’s good (and healthy) to let other people help with the childcare. Involve the extended family (you know the grandmothers want to be involved!) and get your friends to help out when you need them to. Sometimes taking a break for yourself is the best thing you can do for your baby.

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

One night back in the bad old days when Baby J was waking a kajillion times a night, he started crying so I went to him in his nursery. I picked him up and realized his nappy was really heavy, so I lay him on the changing mat to change him. Bear in mind that I didn’t turn on any lights because I didn’t want to wake him properly, so the only light was from the hallway light. Anyway, I put him down and unsnapped his baby grow. As I lifted it up I saw millions of tiny little crystals all over his tummy. It looked like he was starting to freeze! Needless to say I totally freaked out, turned on the light, and screamed for the Beard to help me figure out what the hell was going on. It took us ages to realise that J had somehow managed to rip his nappy and the insides of the nappy were now on the outside – and then even longer to get Baby J back to sleep. But did you know that is what’s in a nappy?!

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

Blog: www.birdandthebeard.com
Facebook: @birdandthebeard
Instagram: @thebirdandthebeard
Twitter: @bird_and_beard

Thank you Kirsten for giving us a glimpse into your life as a mom. ?

How this little series was born… 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 Meet the Mommy series – an interview with regular moms like you and I, where we get to “meet” mommies who are different in many ways, yet have so much in common too.