How wonderful are friendships? They bring so much joy into life. But I think you do need the right ones.
5 times motherhood will shake your friendships
I was one of those pregnant women who swore life WOULD NOT change after baby. I’d have the baby, go out often, travel the world, be a fun and constant friend, work full-time and climb the corporate ladder. Needless to say, things didn’t quite turn out that way.
Parenthood turns your life on its head. It shakes up everything. Including friendships. And it’s not just immediately after baby, there are other times when motherhood alters the landscape of your friendship circle.
Here are 5 times motherhood will shake your friendships…
When you have a tall kid …
They say that the Dutch are amongst the tallest people in the world. My mother’s side of the family certainly seems set to prove it. My gorgeous sister towers over lesser mortals at 6”4 (without heels). My uncles hover close to the heavens at nearly 7”. It seems that my darling (not-so) little E has taken up the Dutch genes. He is a tall kid. Judging by the size of his feet, he is going to be a very tall man.
At two and a couple of months he is at least a head taller than most of his friends. He is not a string bean – his body is in proportion with his height. He still has a baby face and screw on hands and feet. But kids don’t register those things when guessing age. It’s all about height and size. (Not-so) little E will often have three and four year old kids come up to him in the park, ask him his name and if wants to play. His language and social skills don’t extend to that just yet so he smiles shyly back. The other kids shrug their shoulders and leave. And I fight the desire to run up and say: “He’s only two and he wants to play, he just can’t talk like you can yet.”
When Anxiety Attacks
The knife is slack in my hand. The vegetables I was cutting, forgotten. Terror grips my chest and I am struggling to breathe. I am paralysed.
The family dinner is now beyond my reach. I have stopped. My body has simply stopped. My mind is racing for reasons why.
This has happened once before. Years ago. Three weeks after my son died, I collapsed to my knees, unable to continue. Raw grief, emerging from shock, forcing me to floor. Demanding that I pay my dues. Telling me to pay attention to my grief. Read more
Self Belief: Turning around the things that limit us
I am about to change my life. My inner cheer-leader is finally going to be louder than my inner critic. I am going to extend the kindness I show to those around me, inward. I am going to turn around my struggle with self belief.
Because the wonderful thing about beliefs is that they can be changed. I can alter the way I think about things. I can change my perspective.
Here are the things I am going to turn around to increase my self belief. Maybe you want to turn them around as well.
Keeping things fun and fit (sponsored)
This post has been sponsored by Bupa
Murphy is alive and well in our household. If I drop the toast, it will be butter-side down. The morning of my twenty year high-school reunion, I broke out in acne reminiscent of my seventeen-year old self. And the week my family signed up for the Bupa family challenge supporting Healthy Harold, we were hit by the dreaded Brisbane flu.
But we persevered and will take some of the challenges with us into healthier weeks. That’s the great thing about the Bupa challenges – you can easily extend them beyond the suggested week. In fact, hopefully they result in changed habits so that you extend them into life in general.
