It’s Wednesday, and that means I get to introduce you to yet another lovely mommy blogger. And if you missed last week’s post, you can read it here.

Today we meet Eleanor from Just Ella Bella. Ella and I have yet to meet in real life; through her blog though, she has tugged at my heartstrings and moved me to tears, she has made me laugh, and she has had me in awe of her creative talent. And I’m so happy to be featuring her here today.

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

I am a wife, mom, and creative entrepreneur from Nelson Mandela Bay. When I say creative entrepreneur, I mean I make a living from doing various creative things like layout for a newspaper, freelance writing, blogging, and event planning. I also sell my crafts from time to time. My son is a very precocious 4-year-old, and my husband is a detective with an X-box addiction. We lost our first born son when he was just two days old, and I almost lost my own life during the ordeal. This has resulted in me trying to find happiness in the smallest things because life is so darn short.

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

Being a mom itself is challenging as I don’t always feel like the most maternal person out there. I swear I have gone half a day without feeding my kid, because I was not hungry – awful I know; luckily he is super independent and ended up grabbing himself a box of cereal. I work from home one or two days a week, which gives me a great balance. He started “school” again this year, so I look forward to getting some actual work done at home without having to stop and look at his latest experiment (do apples float in the toilet, can sugar freeze, can I make mommy lose her mind).

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?

We lost our first son, like I mentioned. My four year old is a bit of a miracle in his own right, as doctors were talking hysterectomy before I unexpectedly fell pregnant. This means I’m just so grateful to be a mom, that I can’t pick anything that stands out. Like a friend who I met though a grieving moms support group said once, you don’t even mind the teething because; “THANK GOD I have someone that teeths”. Disclaimer: he can be annoying as all heck though, don’t get me wrong.

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?

You are supposed to be his/her mom. That might sound weird, but I went through a stage where I thought that Aidan would be much better off with a mom who doesn’t let him fend for himself with a remote control and a box of cereal (I’m not that bad I promise), but I did think that I was just not up to the task of raising him. Like someone else would do a better job and maybe get him to eat more things and sleep earlier. BUT when we noticed that this kid was a little quirky, marching to the beat of his own drum, I realised that I was the best mom for him. I’m very open-minded, I let him be himself, if that means he is a unicorn wearing vegetarian with a penchant for telling made up stories, so be it. I am here to support him and to show him how to breath through his anxiety, and allow him to question the world around him. I believe that each mom has that, an internal link, even if the child is not biologically yours.

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

I share these things on my facebook page all the time. Aidan is a real smart mouth. He loves making up stories and once told the teachers I hit him (the reason behind a bruise) and when I questioned him about his tall tales he went back and told the teachers, “my mom says she did not hit me”. JIP! that happened.

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

My blog is www.justellabella.co.za
and I can be found on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook under JustEllaBella.

Thank you Eleanor 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.