The Young Mummy… or Middle-Aged Mummy - RETURNS!
The Young Mummy… or Middle-Aged Mummy - RETURNS!
Well… here we go again!
My life with my kids has kind of settled into an ‘easy’ one. I say that very lightly as anyone with kids knows there’s never really a simple minute; as one challenge seems to pass, another one rears its ugly head, ready to startle you in your steps. But having a now 10 & 7 (cough* 16) year old... long gone are my days of nappies, feeding schedules, unpredictability, and tantrums (well… sometimes). As chaotic as their forever busy schedules are between after-school sports, weekend commitments, friends & social life, and the constant stream of school notifications - it’s fair to say that there’s plenty I am not so much required for anymore with my two. They wake at mine 4 out of 5 days a week for school - make their own breakfast, get themselves dressed, brush their own teeth & hair, and ask me to ride their bikes or walk to school.
After school - and maybeee a couple of reminders later - they are getting changed for footy training, netball, dancing & drama - and they know their own schedules within the days of the week to perfection. Glorified Uber driver is now my role, as well as professional netball coach to Florence for training on Wednesday nights & 2 x games on Saturdays. Out of footy season, Sunday is really my only day ‘off’ from the world of parenting, minus my ‘Sunday Shop’ to prepare for the dinners & lunchboxes for that week.
It’s fair to say, life is fun right now. I thoroughly enjoy being heavily involved in every aspect of my children’s lives, and love having them as my best friends as well as being their mother.
SO… if life is so good… WHY would I go back, 8 years later, you ask?
I was never done. Not even close.
Coming from a family of four daughters, I always dreamt of four of my own. I’ve never really wavered from that thought, despite the reality being slightly more challenging than the dream. I obviously found myself in a slight predicament many years ago post-separation, not only at lack of having a partner to continue my family dreams with but, ah, choosing a lifestyle with also a lack of sperm.
Until I realised - I don’t need either.
Duh, the sperm part - but not the partner or via the partner, part.
Some trashy podcasts may label my dating history as a series of “failed relationships” as it’s been no secret that as a single woman in her 30s, I have dated over the years (groundbreaking - I know).
But what these gold-class journalists have failed themselves to realise - is that refusing to settle for relationships marked by rampant cheating, mediocrity, or disrespect isn’t failure.
An independent woman being in a position of self-worth, clarity, and also financial independence to not only raise her two other children but to go through the systems of becoming pregnant on her own. I’m pretty damn proud of that and far from deterred by outdated views that see this as a failure.
My message has always been to live life on your own terms… a theme I believe many people ‘speak’ but very few ‘live’.
So here we are… pregnant with my third, 10 years after giving birth to my first?
Am I crazy? Maybe. Could my life have only gotten easier as the years went by… perhaps. But my longing for my children of my own outweighed any fears I currently have about affording future housing with a growing family or how the hell to pay school fees for four kids. I’ll deal with that later.
For now… The Young Mummy is back. Though I suppose she’s now The Middle-Aged Mum, right?
To celebrate where it all began over a decade ago with The Young Mummy blog, I wanted to create a place where we could take it right back to the beginning and start all over again - together.
See you soon!
Soph xx
Browse Sophs top picks here
