Donegal Mammy You Are Enough

Hello  Donegal Mammy!

Christmas countdown is on!

Dont forget to take some time for YOU in the midst of all  the madness,  time to enjoy Christmas and create traditions with all your family.

For over 30 years we have a tradition in our house, where I read a story on Christmas Eve… a tradition that will hopefully continue into future generations. So before I introduce you to this weeks fabulous guest blogger Tanya,  I want to give you a link to a Christmas book that I have written. Freckles The Elf Christmas Magic In Ireland… You can buy online here  or call into Crafty Kids Toy Shop Letterkenny or McElhinneys Ballybofey.   Read all about it here 

Now on to our guest blog….

This weeks guest blog is once again from the fabulous Tanya Roberts Browne.

Tanya has been a guest blogger with Donegal Mammy in the past and we were bowled over by her honest account of her life and how her journey as #mammy has been to date.

Today Tanya talks about the pressure that families and in particular mammy are under, and her honest views on how to handle it!

Hi Everyone

Tanya here again , and a big thanks to Donegal Mammy for having me back to guest blog here on donegalmammy.com

I spoke to someone recently and they asked me an interesting question.

Not,  “Did I think was I a perfect mum?” BUT they asked “Did I think I was a good mum?”
So I thought about it and I realised that If you believe you are a GOOD mum, then you are enough.

There is so much pressure on Mothers in society today.

We are all guilty of it, trying to portray the picture perfect family we have.

My kids see the camera and they know they are about to be bribed for that perfect Instagram worthy picture.

This usually ends with me, not getting a picture and them still getting what I was bribing them with in the first place!

I try to be that perfect Mum.

I try to plan as many family outings as I can over the weekends ,  to get them to eat healthy,  to get them involved in different activities every evening of the week,  to juggle work and housework so that I can spend time, as much time as I can with them, to teach them good manners and pass on a good example for their future years.

I do all these things and as hard as I try , I also fail.

There are  days:

they won’t eat their dinner and cry for lollipops instead,  days they don’t want to go to things I have signed them up for,  days they are cheeky little monkeys,  and some days when I completely lose my patience and shout at them ( yes I do shout..sometimes!) and it’s enough to make me feel guilty , guilty that I am not being that  Perfect Parent  that society tells us we must be.

But you know what?

At the end of the day I know that I tried…. and that should be enough, for all of us.

Images of being the perfect mammy are constantly portrayed online, then, when we have a bad day or an off day  we are made feel like terrible Mums.

Its time we stood up and represented  real parenting, nobody wants people to know when they have a bad day for the fear of being judged by society.

We have this fear of having to be the perfect parents, pretending we are all coping and loving every minute of it.

It’s OK to feel like you are not coping and it’s good to talk about it.

We NEED to talk more about it.

YES being Mammy is the most wonderful role in the whole world but it’s OK to admit that it is , stressful and tiring.

These days new and expectant Mums are faced with questions from total strangers. Natural birth or Caesarean section?

Breastfed or Bottle fed?  Spoon fed or Baby led Weaning? Co sleeping?  The list goes on and on…..

We are already judging and being judged before we even have babies.

Well here is a piece of advice from me  right here on this Donegal Mammy blog (Donegal Mammy totally agrees with me by the way!)

It’s nobody else’s business!

It doesn’t matter how they will arrive into your arms, as long as they are in our hearts.

It doesn’t matter how they are fed as long as they eat.

It doesn’t matter where they sleep as long as it works for you and your family.
Your children love you unconditionally and to them you are the most amazing person in the whole world and at the end of the day that’s all that matters.

THEY are they only people we should be trying to please.

YOU are a good mum.

YOU are enough.

YOU are a perfect Mum.

Love Tanya – See you all again soon!

Donegal Mammy welcomes REAL PARENTING, bad hair days and I think I am going to explode days..  get in touch, talk to someone but most of all believe YOU ARE ENOUGH. Visit  Donegal Mammy on  instagram   Twitter   facebook and in The Donegal Mammy Club.